Jakarta, Eyewitness – Bali has become one of the tourist destinations highlighted by President Prabowo Subianto. The Island of the Gods is being highlighted for its filth due to waste.
He believes the waste problem in Bali is impacting tourist arrivals. Tourists, Prabowo said, are reluctant to come to Bali if the area remains dirty.
Prabowo made this statement in his remarks at the 2026 National Coordination Meeting of the Central and Regional Governments in Sentul, Bogor, West Java, on Monday (February 2, 2026). Prabowo initially stated that tourism is one of the sectors that absorbs the most labor and is easy to develop.
“Indonesia is beautiful, they want to come, but they see the slums. They want to come to Bali, and Bali’s beaches are dirty,” Prabowo said.
Prabowo received complaints about Bali’s dirty conditions from several foreign figures while in Korea. At that time, Prabowo said, many complained about Bali’s filth.
“In Korea, I met with prominent figures in Korea, ministers, generals, and sometimes soldiers, wherever he was, and he didn’t mince words. He said, ‘Your excellency, I just came from Bali. Bali is so dirty now. Bali isn’t nice.’ Oh, I did, but I accepted that as a correction,” said Prabowo.
He invited the local government to address the problem together. Prabowo then pointed out the condition of the trash on a beach in Bali in December 2025.
“This is a Bali beach, how will tourists want to come there seeing the trash?” he said.
Prabowo ordered the local Military District Commander (Dandim) and Military District Commander (Danrem) to mobilize their subordinates to participate in community service to reduce waste. He wanted this to be done regularly.
“What’s wrong if I can’t order the regent and governor? Dandim, Danrem, I order you to mobilize your subordinates for community service, every day or every few days, corvee, corvee, corvee. Police, mobilize, corvee, corvee, corvee,” he added.
Bali’s beaches, littered with trash, are considered to have the potential to reduce tourist interest and impact the tourism sector, which has long been a major source of employment. He encouraged local governments, particularly in Bali, to mobilize elementary, middle, and high school students to participate in community service activities to clean the environment, including coastal areas.
He said these activities could be carried out routinely, involving various stakeholders, from local governments, the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) and the Indonesian National Police (Polri), to state-owned enterprises. He believes that environmental cleanup efforts cannot be carried out through ceremonial approaches or blame, but rather through real and sustainable work.
The central government is ready to lead and support waste management measures if necessary for the benefit of the community.
“All government agencies must lead community service. It’s okay for schoolchildren to come in the morning for 10 minutes, 15 minutes, or half an hour. If there are hundreds, thousands, that’s fast. What will they need for capital? Carts, trucks, trash, and so on,” he said.
Bali Governor I Wayan Koster stated that he will limit the display of banners by businesses in his area. Therefore, Koster considers President Prabowo Subianto’s dig at Bali at the 2026 National Coordination Meeting (Rakornas) to be a good suggestion. “That’s excellent because Bali is a tourist destination and must be clean and tidy,” Koster explained.
“I will immediately sit down with the Public Order Agency (Pol PP) and the Department of Industry and Trade to invite business owners to reduce the number of banners, billboards, billboards, and other untidy displays. The number of these will be limited in certain locations,” he concluded.
