Short comments on what gets done in Indonesia — by officials, companies, landlords, crowds, anyone — and on what gets said about it afterwards.
On Saturday 10 October Pertamina said fuel deliveries to Bali were running normally and asked people not to stockpile. On Monday 12 October petrol stations across Denpasar, Badung and Tabanan ran out…
If you ask me, this is the most Bali sentence ever spoken: "There is no shortage. Please don't panic." Said next to an empty pump. On Saturday we were told deliveries were normal…
TPA Suwung, the open dump on the edge of Denpasar that takes the rubbish of Denpasar and Badung, was due to close on 23 December 2025. That morning the closure was called off. Environment Minister…
If you ask me, Suwung is the most honest place in Bali. It doesn't pretend. It is a mountain of rubbish, and it looks like one. Everything around it pretends. December: closed…
Forests and vast areas of land have been burning in West Kalimantan. When President Prabowo Subianto asked what was happening on the burned land, the head of Indonesia's disaster management agency told him that one of…
Seriously? They are only surprised now? This is how the system has worked for years. Someone needs to clear a huge piece of land. Cutting down the forest, removing the trees and…
Indonesia's E28A investor stay permit lets a foreign shareholder put money into a PT PMA, carry out activities connected to that business and sit on its board. It does not cover performing the work itself, and where…
I own a company in Indonesia, a PT PMA. I paid to set it up, I invest in it, I am its owner, and my Investor KITAS is held through it. I can put money into it. I can carry the…
On 1 September 2026 the Bali provincial government, the Badung regency and the state rail operator KAI signed an agreement to prepare a tram line from Ngurah Rai airport to Canggu. According to Badung, a feasibility…
If you ask me, this is another ridiculous project, dreamed up for the kickbacks and for buying up land with state money. One thing is what the official documents say about the…
