Jakarta Floods' Wake Felt in Bali

(2/11/2007)

While the devastating flooding occurring in the first days of February 2007 caused more than 50 deaths and an estimated 300,000 residents to flee their homes in Indonesia's capital city of Jakarta, Bali remained directly unscathed by the bad weather and inundation occurring nearly 1,000 kilometers to the West.

While Bali residents watched the events unfolding in the Capital on their television sets, some carry-on effects were felt locally, including:

• Local travel agents in Bali reported sales of Jakarta-bound air tickets were down by as much as 40% as people delayed or cancelled planned trips to the Capital.

• Bali-based stock brokers reported reduced levels of transactions and volume of sales as business came to a stand still in Jakarta, with many investors waiting to see the long-term effects of the floods on the national economy. During the height of the flooding, the Indonesian Average Share Index closed slightly lower, losing more than one-third of a percent.

• Overland tourism from Jakarta to Bali decreased, as bus and train schedules were disrupted.

• Domestic flights from Jakarta to Bali also experienced somewhat lower average loads as many Jakartan's were reluctant to leave their homes and roads between the Capital Cty and Jakarta's airport were closed at times due to flooding .

• Users of the Speedy Internet Service Provider in Bali, both on an individual customer basis and at Internet Cafes, experienced delays and interruptions in service due to problems attributed to the flooding affecting the Telkom headquarters in Jakarta.