A few days ago clips began circulating on social media showing a significant cliff failure in Bali, right between Bingin and Impossibles. A large area of natural limestone bluff reduced to a pile of white rocks and debris scattered along the beach and out into the ocean.
The alleged culprit? A brand new development called Amali Luxury Residents, by the Mirah Group in Bali. Bulldozers, while reportedly burrowing into the limestone bluff to make room for 116 new homesites accidentally sent a section of the cliff face tumbling. Somehow, nobody above or below got hurt.
According to The Bali Sun, construction at the site is halted while officials work to determine the official cause of the collapse, and while they clean up the mess. The Mirah Group, of course, issued a statement deflecting blame to the “loose excavated debris, which was in the process of being transported off-excavation site, triggering part of the cliff face to loosen and fall.” Not surprisingly, their statement reads as though the heavy debris itself was the problem, versus the reason it was excavated in the first place.
Mirah continues trying to save face by saying they will do a “full restoration of the beach within 28 days, if not sooner, once optimal methods have been identified. We are also reinforcing the cliff to prevent erosion.”
Bali is in the midst of a huge construction boom, and this collapse highlights a lot of the major issues the island is facing. Like: How was the Mirah Group allowed to carve out the cliff that extensively in the first place? According to the Balinese principle of Tri Hita Karana (a philosophical concept which brings together the realms of the spirit, the human world and nature), hill and cliff dredging is banned. So, what exactly were they doing? Renderings online show a massive multi-level development featuring over 116 units that objectively overwhelms the surrounding area. Development on the Bukit is one thing. But this? It looks like something meant for Dubai, or Vegas.
As awful as the collapse is, hopefully the media attention it’s received is a harbinger for bringing change to the way new developments in Bali are planned and permitted moving forward. Because like it says in the clip above: How much is too much?
