OFFICIALS in Bali and Australia have played down concerns about a fresh terrorist bombing in Bali after reports of an imminent attack kept numbers down at bars and restaurants and sparked a massive police presence on the streets on New Year’s Eve.
As revellers sought to avoid potential terror targets following a warning from Bali Governor Mangku Pastika that an attack was expected, officials in Bali moved to dispel what appeared to be an expensive misunderstanding. On Thursday the US embassy sent an email to US citizens in Indonesia, following Mr Pastika’s comments that there was “an indication of an attack to the holiday island of Bali tonight”.
The warning was distributed by the Bali Tourism Board and it quickly spread on mobile phones.
Some clubs reported cancellations, while the police presence in Kuta, Legian, Seminyak and Oberoi was doubled.
Main roads were blocked off, including Jalan Legian in Kuta and the Oberoi Road, or “Eat Street”, the location of some of the island’s trendiest restaurants.
Ngurah Wijaya, the chairman of the non-government Bali Tourism Board, said: “I am confused about it (the warning), where the rumours came from.
“The warning was not on local TV, only CNN.”
Many tourists did not know of the warning so they still went out.
Others knew but still went out, avoiding high-risk areas.
Australian Stacey McAuliffe, 24, who was having a drink with friends at the VIP Club in Kuta, the former site of Paddy’s Bar which was bombed in 2005, said she had been nervous last night but it did not stop them going out.
The Hard Rock Cafe reported numbers down to about 350 people from the normal 500 on New Year’s Eve.
The cafe’s manager said one large group had cancelled a visit.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said yesterday it had no specific information about any imminent terrorist attack in Bali.
The Reuters news agency quoted the governor saying the warning had never been issued. The warning provoked widespread alarm, partly because of Mr Pastika’s credentials in the security sphere.
Before becoming the island’s governor he was Bali’s police chief, and investigated the 2002 bombings which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
The Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday incorporated Mr Pastika’s remarks into its travel advisory as a precaution.
The Weekend Australian understands his remarks were intended as a general warning about the elevated risk of terror attack during holiday seasons and large gatherings. The misunderstanding will concern Indonesia’s tourism officials, who have long complained about the travel advice issued by Australia about Bali.
Bali has been the site of two major terrorist attacks.
The first, in 2002, killed 202 people at the Sari Club and Paddy’s Bar on October 12.
In October 2005 a series of coordinated attacks killed 23 people, including four Australians, and injured 150.
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