Koster asks for central incentive to build infrastructure to ease Bali traffic jams

Bali Governor Wayan Koster with the Chairman of the National Economic Council (DEN) and Chairman of the Government Digital Transformation Acceleration Committee Luhut Binsar Panjaitan (ANTARA/Ni Putu Putri Muliantari)

DENPASAR - Bali Governor Wayan Koster has asked the Chairman of the National Economic Council (DEN) and Chairman of the Government Digital Transformation Acceleration Committee Luhut Binsar Panjaitan to support Bali to receive incentives for infrastructure from the central government.

"The problem is that we have never implemented a specific regional policy such as Bali which is a tourist area given incentives for infrastructure, so the pattern is the same as all regions, as a result we in Bali are overwhelmed by this traffic jam," said Governor Koster in Denpasar, Thursday, February 26.

"So we really need infrastructure support because if we alone are not able to, so please encourage Mr. to the Minister of PU, Minister of Transportation, Minister of Finance, and Minister of Bappenas to give attention," he continued.

To Luhut, Koster explained that Bali needed incentive assistance for infrastructure considering the many problems that could have an impact on tourism.

The most highlighted is the problem of congestion and garbage.

For the current waste problem, the Bali Provincial Government relies on the policy of processing waste at the source or upstream, and downstream is attempted to be handled by the local government.

As for congestion, the local government is trying to develop road infrastructure and transportation modes, but is constrained by the budget so it needs central support.

"If this is not managed quickly in a short time, in the next five years Bali tourism will experience a decline in competitiveness, maybe it will damage Bali tourism, and if it is damaged I think it is difficult to repair," he said.

Before that happened, the Bali Provincial Government asked Luhut's support to discuss this at the center so that Bali tourism could be maintained in the long term and not fall further behind neighbors such as Thailand and Malaysia.

According to Koster, Bali is entitled to incentives for this infrastructure also considering Bali's high contribution to Indonesia.

Throughout 2025, the number of foreign tourists visiting Bali reached 7.05 million or 45.8 percent of the total 15.39 million foreign tourists to Indonesia.

In 2024, the total total foreign exchange contributed by Bali tourism reached Rp167 trillion so that according to Koster Bali, Bali should get more attention for its contribution to tourism.

At the request of the support, the Chairman of the National Economic Council Luhut Binsar Panjaitan expressed his support.

He himself since serving as Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries has realized that the World Bank has stated that Bali needs infrastructure so that Governor Koster's steps must be expedited.

"The problem here is the infrastructure, I have already reported to the Governor, so it must be expedited and must be integrated, that is the direction from the World Bank," he said.