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.<\/p>\n
Prabowo publicly dressed down Bali\u2019s governor, Wayan Koster, and his regents earlier this week, saying he received complaints from foreign dignitaries about the state of cleanliness in the country\u2019s holiday jewel, which welcomed 6.9 million foreign tourists last year, up from 6.3 million in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn South Korea, I met prominent figures \u2013 ministers, generals and sometimes soldiers \u2013 and they didn\u2019t mince words,\u201d the president said on Monday in a speech to regional officials, quoting his contacts as saying \u201cBali is so dirty now, Bali isn\u2019t nice\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI accepted that as a [criticism],\u201d Prabowo said, displaying photos of the destination\u2019s beaches covered in trash in December. \u201cIndonesia is beautiful, tourists want to come, but they see the slums. They want to go to Bali, but Bali\u2019s beaches are dirty. How can tourists come there if they see the trash?\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Waste](\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/02\/05\/5e37c024-e0ce-48fb-b5b7-33c36eb60f68_58dda525.jpg\" "\\"Waste")
<\/div>He deemed Koster as \u201cslow\u201d in responding to the waste issue, even with the full authority to mobilise the island\u2019s 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 \u201cwar\u201d on waste.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n