‘Bali is so dirty’: waste woes under scrutiny after Prabowo warning

The waste woes of tourism hotspot Bali have come under intense scrutiny after Indonesian

President Prabowo Subianto

shamed island authorities for what he said were improper steps to tackle the problem.

But even as Balinese officials scramble to clean up their beaches, experts point to structural problems endemic to the issue, such as overtourism, lack of enforcement and insufficient education among locals.

Prabowo publicly dressed down Bali’s governor, Wayan Koster, and his regents earlier this week, saying he received complaints from foreign dignitaries about the state of cleanliness in the country’s holiday jewel, which welcomed 6.9 million foreign tourists last year, up from 6.3 million in 2024.

“In South Korea, I met prominent figures – ministers, generals and sometimes soldiers – and they didn’t mince words,” the president said on Monday in a speech to regional officials, quoting his contacts as saying “Bali is so dirty now, Bali isn’t nice”.

“I accepted that as a [criticism],” Prabowo said, displaying photos of the destination’s beaches covered in trash in December. “Indonesia is beautiful, tourists want to come, but they see the slums. They want to go to Bali, but Bali’s beaches are dirty. How can tourists come there if they see the trash?”

He deemed Koster as “slow” in responding to the waste issue, even with the full authority to mobilise the island’s 4.5 million people to conduct clean-up operations. Prabowo threatened to deploy the military for regular clean-ups if Balinese officials were not up to the task, declaring a “war” on waste.