Incident 1
A tall Dutch tourist agreed to pay no more than 100 rupiah for transport by cidomo from one losmen to the next. Cidomos usually have a driver and a younger companion - a father-son arrangement. The Dutch man instructed the younger companion, 'You walk, okay? It's not good for the horse!'
What seemed like a kindly gesture on the part of the Dutch tourist takes on a new perspective when you consider that the boy he had instructed to walk was a tenth of the man's size and half the weight of the man's backpack, which he loaded on to the cidomo. The cross-island transfer of the man, his female partner and two huge backpacks cost the equivalent of 50 United States cents or about 70 Australian cents.
The incident shows how the European tourist was more concerned about the welfare of the horse than about that of the local boy. Taking the shorter route directly across the island rather than the longer scenic coastal one around the perimeter was a condition imposed by the young cidomo driver, however.
Figure 3.24 A cidomo, or horse-drawn cart: common in the Gili Islands and on mainland Lombok
Incident 2
Twenty-four people were transported by wooden boat, fitted with bamboo outriggers, from Gili Air back to Bangsal in Lombok. During the forty-minute journey, most of the men smoked clove cigarettes, as did the outboard-motor operator, who was apparently unaware - or unconcerned - about smoking next to a plastic container of flammable fuel as well as vapour from the motor. The three Australian passengers, who were very safety-conscious non-smokers, were terrified at the lack of concern shown for the passengers' safety and at the local operators' being so oblivious to the problems.
The other twenty-one passengers were locals. Before the journey commenced, some of the passengers returned to the shore in order to load an older Bangsal woman and her woven baskets and containers. She had taken ice and fruit from Bangsal to Gili Air in order to sell the fruit to tourists there and was returning with fish and coconuts to sell in Bangsal or at the market in nearby Pemenang. The women of Gili Air are usually engaged in selling or trading on the shoreline or at the port, particularly when the tourists arrive, as well as in stalls scattered across the island.
At Gili Air's port where the tourists arrived and departed, many young men were grouped together playing games or standing around smoking. Apart from the cidomo drivers, boat operators and people selling T-shirts and ornaments, the men were not obviously involved in productive work. The industrious work seemed to be being undertaken by women, whereas the people standing around, particularly in groups, were young men showing off and playing games.
The young local men who made the boat trip to Bangsal or Pemenang in Lombok intended to go to a cockfight in Pemenang, whereas the older men were involved, on Gili Air, in the cutting and bundling of
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palm branches, as well as other agrarian activities such as the tending of animals. In a society such as this, in which tourism has begun to influence the people's way of life, interacting with tourists is viewed as being an easier way of making a living than undertaking the traditional activities of agriculture and fishing. Because many of these activities are related to activities undertaken by women, men have less incentive to do productive work. The men who do work tend to be the older ones who maintain traditional ways, whereas the younger men are more susceptible to having an easier life sustained through money derived from tourism. Because so many young men wish to be involved in tourism enterprises, competition for the limited tourism-derived income is strong, and many of them therefore either remain idle or work for only short periods of time.
Activity 4
a In what ways has tourism affected the traditional ways of life of these island groups' inhabitants?
b Using the sections on pages 74 to 76, and figures 3.22 to 3.24, list the tourism-related occupations that the local males and females could potentially be engaged in.
c Are any of the islands' traditional roles oriented towards tourism?
d What impact has the presence of large numbers of tourists had on the inhabitants' social lives and on the islands' environment?
e State some possible solutions for the problems.
The struggle over Gili Trawangan land
How and why have the issues arisen?
When have the events mostly occurred? (State their chronology or sequence.)
With a local population of about 150 families, or 450 people - a figure that doubles during the tourist season of June-July-August, Gili Trawangan is more populous an island than either Gili Air or Gili Meno. It has the most tourist visitors of the three islands as well as the most facilities. Accommodation places and other tourist facilities tend to be located along the
east-coast beach - see the map in Figure 3.25. The island's beaches and coral reefs are once again the tourist attractions. Although, in the past, many parts of the coral reef were destroyed by explosives used in fishing, this practice is now banned.
The island's tourists are particularly keen to view the sunrise over Gunung Rinjani, Lombok's dormant volcano, as well as the sunset over Gunung Agung, a similar volcano on adjacent Bali - see the photograph in Figure 3.9 on page 71.
The sequence of events
Figure 3.25 Gili Trawangan
Between 1988 and 1991, the island's image of being a peaceful unspoilt paradise changed drastically. In this short four-year period, a rapid influx of tourists put pressure on the limited tourist accommodation, with the result that at the height of the tourist season it was impossible to find rooms available after about 10 a.m. The other significant element of the change is the land-rights battle as new business interests try to gain a share in the boom. The interests include Jakarta-based business conglomerates that are developing tourist resorts and agribusiness enterprises all
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THE IMPACT OF TOURISM
over Indonesia, using capital acquired from wealthy oil-rich families and local Chinese and Sasak businesspeople, as well as using private legal advisers.
Until the 1970s, the island had no permanent settlers except the Buginese fisherfolk who sheltered there during bad weather. Rats, mosquitoes and snakes were in great abundance. The community's founders were two Buginese fisherfolk. In 1975, two companies set up a coconut-plantation agribusiness that employed fisherfolk and labourers from Lombok. The business failed, and the companies lost the land title. In 1986, the companies returned, this time with government permission to develop 200 hectares of the island as an official tourism site.
In January 1990 and December 1991, the local landholders attempted to gain the support of foreign people visiting the island, by asking them to sign petitions. These were sent to the government but had no effect. Figures 3-26 and 3-27 are extracts from the two petitions.
In 1992, the island's landholders were issued with eviction orders, even though they had been trying to obtain security of tenure since 1986. They believed they had right of ownership because of their occupancy and their part in caring for the land and the foreshore. Their bid to remain landholders was unsuccessful because their legal representatives, employed by a locally based legal-aid institute that had agreed to fight the case, had a vested interest in the people's removal and establishment of more upmarket facilities on the island.
In August 1992, the Lombok government announced that fourteen bungalow operators would be relocated to another part of the island. Each operator was promised compensation of 300,000 rupiah - about $A250 - as well as the granting of permission to build a five-room losmen homestay. In September 1992, eviction orders were issued to the remaining homestay and restaurant operators as well as to fifty-nine farmer-landholders. The homestay owners were given a time limit to dismantle their bungalows and restaurants, because the government claimed they did not have building permits. The owners refused to comply with the order, and the local military — the Koramil - was subsequently instructed to pull down the tourism facilities. The district council - the kabupaten - had supplied the military with the funds to undertake the task.
In an attempt to save some of the funds for themselves, the members of the military ordered local people to undertake the task of evicting other local people. Had the local people refused to undertake this task, they would have forfeited permission to break up the coral reefs, burnt in order to make lime,
Petition 1, January 1990
Outside developers are presently taking steps towards building a restaurant and hotel complex here: this would only be the beginning. The local population is concerned about the impact this could have on their environment and culture. Chances are you come here to experience the quiet, simple lifestyle of the family-run losmens. Please help to preserve it. [86 signatories]
Figure 3.26 Extract
Petition 2, December 1991
We overseas visitors to the island of Lombok are very concerned about the problems facing the local people in many tourist areas… developers wish to evict the local people.of Gili Trawangan to make way .for tourist development. Tourist development should benefit the entire community, not just rich foreign arid domestic investors. We foreigners come to Lombok to experience the local culture and environment and to see the traditional lifestyles of the local population (for example seaweed farming); This is more important than luxury hotels and restaurants. We cannot support any tourist developmtent that results in eviction or loss of income for the local people. The people of Lombok must be consulted and included in any tourist development on their land. [68 signatories]
Figure 3.27 Extract
an activity that provided all the local people with a form of income. All these measures were enforced in Gili Trawangan in order to facilitate building of a tourist golf course designed to complement an expensive and exclusive 400 hectare five-star resort on the best of Lombok's tourism sites.
Activity 5
a Referring to the preceding text, state the key dates that indicate a change in the situation affecting Gili Trawangan's original landholders during their struggle for land rights.
b i Where did the support for the local
people's struggle come from?