BENOA BAY RECLAMATION

Reclamation comes from the English vocabulary, to reclaim, which means repairing
something that is broken. Specifically in the English-Indonesian Dictionary of the Ministry of
National Education, the meaning of reclaim is to make land (from the sea). Still in the same
dictionary, the meaning of the word reclamation is translated as work to acquire land. The
purpose of reclamation according to the Applied Module for Spatial Planning Guidelines for
Coastal Reclamation Areas (2007) is to turn damaged or untapped water areas into a new,
better and more useful area. The new land area can be used for residential, industrial, business
and shopping areas, airports, cities, agriculture, alternative transportation routes, freshwater
reservoirs on the coast, integrated waste and environmental management areas, and as
embankments to protect the old land from the threat of abrasion. However, according to City
Planning (2013), the purpose of coastal reclamation is one of the steps for urban development.
Reclamation is practiced by the state or big cities whose growth rate and land requirements are
increasing rapidly but experiencing obstacles due to the narrowing of land (limited land). Under
these conditions, the expansion of the city towards the mainland is no longer possible, so a new
land is needed.
 Mangrove vegetation in the Benoa Bay area is dominated by prapat species (Sonneratia
spp.). This type of vegetation is very sensitive to sedimentation. The reclamation project by
creating new islands in the Benoa Bay area will make the process of sedimentation or silting
take place faster, this is because the sedimentary materials carried by the rivers that empties
into Benoa Bay will be blocked by new reclaimed islands. In addition, the Benoa Bay
Reclamation will certainly change the regime of ocean currents generated by tidal events.
Changes in the current regime will affect the disposition of the sediment, where this
sedimentation will kill the vegetation of Sonnerata spp. In the long term, there will be changes in
the structure of the mangrove community in the area. This is because the reclamation project
will cause the advancement of the coastline, so that the living environment of mangroves will
change, which used to be a brackish environment changing to a coastal environment.
 Reclamation is not a solution to stop silting. As is well known silting is a natural process
that occurs in nature due to the sedimentation process, namely the deposition of materials
carried by the rivers supporting Benoa Bay towards the estuary. With the existence of reclaimed
islands, these islands will obstruct the natural sedimentation process that has taken place, so
that what happens is the opposite, namely Reclamation will only accelerate the silting process.
In addition, the reclamation of Benoa Bay is predicted by Conversational International to have a
systemic impact and become one of the causes of flooding, because the area of reclamation will
have a direct impact on water levels. So if 75% of the Benoa Bay area is planned to be
reclaimed, then through modeling if it rains for 4 hours there will be an increase in water up to
0.4 meters. This means that the areas of Tanjung Benoa, Nusa Dua, Tuban, Semawang, and
Sanur will be affected by flooding.
 Reclamation will not save the habitat and ecosystem of Benoa Bay, but on the contrary,
it will destroy the habitat and ecosystem of Benoa Bay which was formed millions of years ago.
The habitat and ecosystem of the Benoa Bay mangrove ecosystem plays an important role in
maintaining the stability of productivity and the availability of biological resources in coastal
areas and small islands which are also a nursery ground, spawning ground and a place to find
food for fish (feeding ground). Types of aquatic biota such as shrimp, fish and shellfish as well
as a sanctuary for wild life and mangroves which are known as a supplier of nutrients and food
for plankton and create a complex food chain in the surrounding waters will be damaged during
the process of developing new islands. In addition, reclamation will cause an increase in
suspended solids and sedimentation in coral reef habitats so that it can kill coral polyps and
damage coral reefs in the surrounding area. Systemically, the destruction of coral reefs will have
a direct impact on the destruction of coral reef networks or other biodiversity, particularly the
"golden triangle area" connectivity, namely the Candi Dasa and Nusa Penida areas.

Revitalization is not the same as reclamation. Revitalization is a process, method, act of

reviving or reactivating. In the context of Benoa Bay, which is a water area, revitalization
activities should be a process, method or act of reactivating the waters of Benoa Bay with its
function as a water area. Meanwhile, reclamation in the context of Benoa Bay is an activity to fill
and build artificial islands in the waters of Benoa Bay. So where is the meeting point if the effort
to reactivate the waters of Benoa Bay with its function as a water area by filling the sea in the
Benoa Bay area. How is it possible to overcome the silting that has occurred in Benoa Bay to be
overcome by filling Benoa Bay, won't it add new problems to the waters of Benoa Bay? The
logic of revitalizing Benoa Bay by eliminating its function and designation as a conservation area
and then reclaiming it for the creation of new islands is a heretical logic. If revitalization is to
revive the conservation function of Benoa Bay, then reclaiming the Bay for non-conservation
interests is the same as degrading the waters of Benoa Bay.

Another reason to know is the number of holy places in the Benoa Bay area. If this
reclamation project runs, many holy places that are used as places of worship for Hindus will no
longer be sacred, because those places have been sacred by Hindu people. I Gede Hendrawan
in an article entitled "Benoa Bay to become a maritime conservation area, does not
automatically cancel the reclamation project". This is an important value, how then Benoa Bay
as an ecological buffer outside the bay, such as coral reefs in Nusa Dua and tourism activities
that require clean waters.
 Source:

1. Modul Terapan Kawasan Reklamasi Pantai; Pedoman Perencanaan Tata Ruang;

Ditjen Penataan Ruang; Departemen Pekerjaan Umum, 2007
2. Sjafrizal. 2014. Perencanaan Pembangunan Daerah Dalam Era Otonomi. Jakarta :
Rajawali Pers.
3. https://www.bbc.com/indonesia/majalah-50010898
4. https://www.mongabay.co.id/2018/12/21/reklamasi-teluk-benoa-susi-bertahan-
bali-melawan/
5. https://tirto.id/reklamasi-teluk-benoa-susi-vs-luhut-jokowi-yang-gagal-bersikap-
ejET