“Surfers had itchy skin and eye problems.”
An interview with surfer and environmentalist Piter Panjaitan from Uluwatu in Bali
“The week when they were throwing limestone into the water, it was all milky white, and it’s very close to Secrets, Temples, the Peak, Racetrack and after that Thomas Beach, Padang Padang, Bingin and then up to Dreamland that’s all 2km away. When that happened there were no surfers, well some surfers were still going there but they had itchy skin and eyes problems as it’s limestone it dissolves, there were lots of turtles and fish dead.”
I haven’t been to Bali for a while but when I first went there in 1998, I didn’t go to Uluwatu but scrambled down a cliff path to watch some surfers at nearby Bingin and obviously thought it was paradise. There has of course been a tonne of development in the area since then but nothing quite as perplexing as the construction of a road and concrete seawall at Uluwatu, which has seen diggers carve out huge swathes of the limestone cliffs since August. The authorities say they are simply shoring up the sacred temple there, but many locals question their plan.
One of their number is local surfer Piter Panjaitan and I caught up with him to chat about his frustration with the project and what he wants to happen next. Thanks to Tony Butt and Emmett at Save the Waves for helping me set this up and I hope you enjoy our chat.
Hey Piter, how’s it going? Could you explain what’s been happening in Uluwatu?
The temple of Uluwatu, which is already 1,000 years old, has a crack in the cliff below it. The crack has been there for a long time but it’s getting wider, and there has been talk of fixing it by the government. In April, they put out a tender to do the repairs, which was won by a construction company in Java and worth about $5 million.
The plan, from the government and the contractor, is to put a road from the cliff that they’re digging out now towards the temple below and to go around a little bit more because there is another temple, which is behind the main temple. They also want to put a sea wall in.
When did you first hear about it?
This all happened without any discussion with the local community in the area. We didn’t know about it until 23/24th August, I surfed with my son in Uluwatu in the morning and I didn’t see anything but then later we had news, pictures, and videos, showing the excavators already at the edge of the cliff.
So, there was no public consultation at all?
Well according to those who executed the project they did but obviously they didn’t because one of my friends, who is an official in the village, didn’t even know about the project so that’s why there is a problem.
And then they threw all the limestone they’d dug out into the ocean. How many tonnes of that is already in the ocean? I’m very upset because under the cliffs, there is a breeding area for reef sharks, we have turtles, dugong fish, and many other maritime species – they are destroying the marine ecosystem.
I already talked to some civil engineers, my brother is also a civil engineer, there are many ways to fix the cliff without having to build a road towards that temple underneath. There are many ways to fix the problem without having to sacrifice another cliff. How on earth do you think about repairing one cliff by destroying another cliff?
And the work the excavators are doing is of course making the crack wider through the tremors, which register at around two on the Richter scale.
I take it they didn’t do an environmental impact assessment…
By law they can build without the full EIA if it’s urgent and an emergency, so the government states that this situation is an emergency. But if the temple is in an emergency state, why did they still have tourists visiting it?
I know there are more important environmental implications in all this but has the work affected the wave?
Not the wave, but the water is affected. The week when they were throwing limestone into the water, it was all milky white, and it’s very close to Secrets, Temples, the Peak, Racetrack and after that Thomas Beach, Padang Padang, Bingin and then up to Dreamland that’s all 2km away. All that milky white is drifting southwest. When that happened there were no surfers, well some surfers were still going there but they had itchy skin and eyes problems as it’s limestone it dissolves, there were lots of turtles and fish dead.
Do you feel like the government doesn’t take the local surf culture and value of surf tourism seriously?
They didn’t before but they did after the meetings. Because one of the prominent pro surfers in Bukit, his name is Mega Semadhi and he’s won the Padang Padang cup twice, he made the point that Uluwatu has only grown like this because of surf culture since the 1970s. The surf culture and the surfers bring the guests.
Yes, a lot of guests come to the temple but not all of them stay in Uluwatu, but all the surfers stay in Uluwatu, they visit the restaurants, they support the local economy, the shops and stores, they stay in local accommodation as well, so they need to think about that.
The sea wall probably will affect the wave at Secrets and Temples. For me it can be selfish to talk about saving one wave, one surf break, but we always think about the nature.
I’m Hindu not Christian but what I’m talking about is the nature. We have a concept in Balinese called Tri Hita Karana – the harmony between you and God, the harmony between you and people and the harmony between you and nature – that’s the concept of Balinese culture, and how we build our tourism.
Are there any other islands as beautiful as Bali? Of course, there is Fiji, Thailand, the Philippines, Vanuatu, Hawaii… Many other places have nature like Bali, but there is no one like Balinese people in terms of their hospitality and culture. They are so different and welcoming and that is the ethos here.
How often do you surf at Uluwatu?
I live 10 minutes away from the spot and I usually surf Uluwatu, Bingin and Balangan with my son, who is 14 years old. I also have 50 kids at an orphanage foundation and 15 of them surf, so I take them in a pick-up truck and off we go. In Uluwatu there are so many breaks so when I bring a pack of them, I have to go somewhere with a lot of breaks so we can split up.
I surf Uluwatu a lot, I got my best wave ever there and my worst wipeout that almost killed me hahaha.
Do you have any tips for surf tourists on how to be respectful visitors?
Respect the nature, the culture, and the people. Some people come here and try to barge in, lots of investors come here and try to barge in and change the culture and community and that’s no good for us and it’s no good for you. If you want to build something like in Europe, Mediterranean-style, you can go to Greece or if you want to build something modern and futuristic go to Dubai don’t come to Bali – we have a different culture so respect that, and then we can respect you, it’s a mutual respect.
What do you want to happen now at Uluwatu?
I want them to re-evaluate what they’re doing and stop the project. We cannot fight for what we’ve lost, we’ve lost the cliff already, but we can fight for what we have left, and we have to fight for it because this is our home, and we want to protect it.
To follow Piter on Instagram head here.
And to sign a petition started by Save the Waves to request an Environmental Impact Assessment for the Uluwatu seawall project head here.
Other news:
Last night, I saw some great films at the Adventure Uncovered night in London including the epic Thrawn by my lovely pals Hannah Bailey and Lesley McKenna, which is fine tribute to Scottish snowsports, and La Libertad, a heart-warming look at the power of surfing to change lives through a community surf group in Peru. You can see the full programme here.
And last month, I spent a super fun evening at the Tremula Festival in Brighton chatting about confidence and boardsports with an awesome panel of women for Caroline Keylock’s excellent Board Women podcast. You can listen to a live recording of the show here.
Also, I definitely recommend Marianne Clark’s Board Woman podcast – she’s incredibly sound and a proper inspiration to a lot of us who surf and swim in Brighton.
As ever, please fwd this newsletter to anyone who you think might be interested & if you have any story tips on any of these themes pls get in touch.