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As the aftermath of terror begins to bite, many Balinese are
worrying about economic survival. Tourists are abandoning the
island as never before.
In the water, competition for, waves are already down, and
local officials confirm the anecdotal evidence: Hotel room
occupancies have plunged to 30 percent from 70 percent the week
before. Hotel owners say they can hang on for two months at most
before laying off some of the island'sl50,000 hotel workers.
The problem is potentially serious for an Island that employs
80 percent of its 2.5 million people in tourism - from expatriates
who run $500-a-night hotels like the Four Seasons to farmers who
supply their kitchens and me street-side food stalls that cater to the
shop-workers, laundresses, and drivers that keep Bali moving.
Those most at risk are the Indonesians who work at the
bottom of the tourist chain. While New Yorkers worried about job
security and lifestyle after the Sept. 11 attack, for many Balinese
the concerns are more basic: Will my family get enough to eat?
Will I be able to afford to send my children to school?
Ketut Sukadana has already caught a glimpse of the gathering
storm. It's almost noon, and the taxi driver has just picked up his
second fare of the day.
"I've been driving in circles since 7 -this can't go on, can it?"
So far, he's made about $1 and expects that today will be the first
time in nine years of driving that he loses money on his daily taxi
rental of $16.50.
After the WTC [World Trade Center attack], it was quiet for a
while, but nothing like this. I think maybe I'm going to stop
working and just hang out at home for a while."
Made Roda, a perpetually smiling man with a potbelly
hanging over his tattered board shorts, wades into the gentle surf
with his net just after sunset on Kuta beach.

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