BTD Boss Tantowi Yahya Agrees To Revoke The Name Of The Bali Kura-Pere SEZ

President Commissioner of PT BTID Tantowi Yahya explained about the naming of Jalan Kura-kura Bali to replace Jalan Pulau Serangan in Denpasar, Bali, Thursday (30/1/2025). (ANTARA/Ni Putu Putri Mulinari)

DENPASAR - President Commissioner of PT Bali Turtle Island Development (BTID) Tantowi Yahya finally agreed to revoke the name of Jalan Kura-kura Bali in order to return to being Jalan Pulau Serangan.

"The street name is temporary, to make it easier for delegates to come to the Bali Kura-Perus SEZ, so that it is easy, but after this we revoke it, we accept it," he said in a meeting with members of the council and the people of Serangan Island in Denpasar, Thursday, January 30.

It is known that the manager of the Bali Kura-kura SEZ received a number of public protests, starting from the naming of Jalan Kura-kura Bali, naming the Kura-kura Beach in Bali, installing sea barrier buoys, and requiring fishermen to wear identity vests if they want to go to sea in the SEZ area.

Tantowi kemudian sepakat melepas identitas Jalan Kura-kura Bali mengingat izinnya tidak ada, namun ia mempertanyakan jika izin pembuatan nama jalan itu disetujui pemerintah maka membutuhkan waktu lagi untuk mengubahkannya menjadi Jalan Pulau Serangan.

In addition, the former New Zealand Ambassador saw the name Jalan Pulau Serangan being used on other roads in Denpasar.

"What if on the way to the permit it goes down on behalf of Jalan Kura-kura Bali? If you really want to be changed to Jalan Pulau Serangan, you have to go through a permit request process which is more or less as time as we experienced," he said.

"We will withdraw it tomorrow, the segment will not be named again, and if the name of the road is returned to Serang Island, it means that there is a process of applying for permission from the village to the government," continued Tantowi Yahya.

Meanwhile, from this meeting, Tantowi can only provide certainty for road names, the rest will be brought to the board of directors meeting which will be held as soon as possible because the Bali Kura-Pere SEZ does not belong to one person.

Regarding the name Kura-kura Beach Bali on the online map, it was also answered that the name of the beach remains Serangan Beach, while Bali Kura-kura Beach is only coordinates for the Surf Bay The Wave building where thousands of World Water Forum delegates met last year.

"When it comes to buoys from our aspect, company investors are security because they have had previous experience in the lagoon where there has been a buildup of wild bbm, our officers cannot be there 24 hours, so security is no longer a similar case, even more scary drugs and other illicit products are our responsibility," he said.

Then regarding the use of orange vests for Serangan Island fishermen, Tantowi said the aim was to make it easier to monitor them, besides that PT BTID wants this access to be limited for local fishermen so that those with maximum impact.

In the board of directors meeting later, apart from this sticking issue, Tantowi Yahya also plans to discuss two promises of the Bali Kurakura SEZ agreement with the public in 1998.

The promise is like making access bridges for fishermen, as well as providing parking space for Hindus at Sakenan Temple.