Governor Asks Bali Airport Operators to Make a Greener Less Commercialized Airport.
Bali's Governor Made Mangku Pastika is calling on the officials in charge of Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport to divert some of their substantial profits to the benefit of the Balinese people.
In a recent meeting between the Governor and officials of PT Angkasa Pura, the company charged with operating and managing Bali's sole airport, the Governor renewed long-standing calls for more of the large profits earned from the operation of Bali's airport to be retained in the province.
Anticipating arguments from Angkasa Pura that national law prevents a "tax" for local benefit, Governor Pastika said that at the very least the airport should spend more on enhancing the natural environment of the airport and its surroundings, creating a facility that rivals that of the Changi Airport in Singapore.
Quoted in the Jakarta Post, Pastika said, "the green trees in and around Changi Airport are so neatly set up that everyone goes in and out of the airport feeling comfortable."
Clean Up the Domestic Terminal
While calling for a "greener" airport in Bali, Pastika also requested that greater attention be paid to security issues at the airport and for the removal of commercial vendors offering a wide range of products, including massages. "The existence of traders, masseurs and other businesses is not appropriate because they pose a very high risk in terms of security," added Pastika.
In response to the Governor’s demands, the Manager of Angkasa Pura in Bali, Heru Legowo, cited training and loans provided to small and medium sized entrepreneurs in Bali and the imminent plans to increase the area of the domestic terminal from 14,000 square meters to 70,000 square meters.
Legowo also lauded the many advances made in improving security at the Airport that recently allowed the United States to lift its security caution urging U.S. nationals not to fly via the Bali air facility. The Bali airport manager thanked the Indonesian military for its continuing help in improving security at the airport which cleared the way for the removal of the U.S. travel warning unfavorable to Ngurah Rai Airport.