THE COORDINATING Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment as Deputy Chair of the Committee for Handling the COVID-19 and National Economic Recovery (KPC PEN), Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said international entrances to Bali will begin to reopen on February 4, 2022.
“The government also said that it would reopen international entrances in Bali on February 4, 2022,” said Coordinating Minister Luhut in a press statement on the results of the online implementation of restrictions on community activities (PPKM) evaluation process in Jakarta, Monday (1/31).
He said the opening of Bali was aimed at re-invigorating the Bali economy, which was already quite affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The opening of the Bali entrance is also only intended for non-Indonesian migrant workers (PPLN non-PMI) foreign travelers.
“We will continue to open in stages and continue. In addition to quarantine regulations, the entry of PPLN will also follow the circular in force,” he said.
Currently, Bali also provides two additional options for PPLN quarantine, namely bubble quarantine starting at 5 hotels with a total of 447 rooms and six live on-board ships that have been certified for Cleanliness, Health, Safety, and Environment Sustainability (CHSE) by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy.
Previously, the government had opened the entrance for foreign tourists to Bali by opening international flights at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport on October 14, 2021.
Although it had been opened, in early December 2021, the government again restricted the entry of international passengers of Indonesian citizens (WNI) either by air, sea, and land. This provision is regulated in the Instruction of the Minister of Home Affairs Number 65 of 2021.
In this provision, the entrance via the air route using flights is only opened through three airports, namely Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Banten Province, Raja Haji Fisabilillah in Riau Archipelago Province, and Sam Ratulangi in North Sulawesi Province. [antaranews/photo special]