By JOHN Peterson
October 17, 2012
Ten years ago the island resort Seminyak in Bali, Indonesia, witnessed a catastrophic event that killed more than 200 innocent fun-loving travelers and tourists. It was Asia's worst terrorist attack. People were devastated and public opinion was that recovery of the idyllic tropical retreat was a distant dream, especially after another attack in 2005 that killed 20 persons.
Now, Bali has bounced back residents and visitors are overwhelmed. Foreign visitors have doubled over the past ten years, leaving the narrow roads of once attractively unusual villages, chocked with traffic congestion. Crime chart is spiraling due to inadequate police force, while property dealers are pushing land prices beyond the buying capacity of the common residents. Construction work is destroying the island's pristine locales.
Toll roads are taking over the resort's lush green paddy fields, beaches, historic Hindu temples and volcanoes. The number of cars are increasing alarmingly. It is about 200,000 every year! Nyoman Wardawan, head of tourism marketing at the Bali government tourism office, remarked, that if Bali was a ship, then sooner or later it would sink. Providing accommodation to visitors is becoming next to impossible.
Coming Friday, the residents and the survivors of the 2002 blast intend to pay tribute at a memorial service to the departed souls, an horrific attack executed by JEMAAH ISLAMIYAH, an alQAEDA-linked terrorist outfit. Car and backpack bombs were used by suicide bombers to kill 202 innocent people. Most of them were in the age group of 20-30 years. It included 88 Australians and 7 Americans.
October 17, 2012 | 0
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