Originally published in Directions Magazine; October/November 1997

Economics and the Environment

by Paul E.R. Packbier

On a recent trip to Bali, I could not refrain from comparing it with Guam. This tropical Indonesian island is located approximately 8 degrees below the equator and has a climate similar to ours, except their wet season is during our dry season, and vice versa. Some of the main geographical differences between our islands is that Bali's 2,253 square mile size is approximately ten times our 209 square mile footprint. With that comes a population of 2.9 million people, which is more than 200 times our head count!

More than 80 percent of Bali's economy is based on agriculture, but tourism is growing as an industry. The most recent international arrival numbers I could find for Bali indicate that in 1993, the island was hosting approximately 750,000 tourists per year. They are pretty much on par with our small(er) island in this regard. Bali is rich in culture, but poor in comparison to our living conditions.

I have always been interested in the environmental conditions of countries I have visited. In my travels to East Germany and Czechoslovakia, before the "Iron Curtain" came down, and "developing countries" in Asia, I have witnessed the effect that environmental mismanagement can have on a country, both economically and socially. Being an environmental consultant on Guam has prompted questions from off-island peers, wondering what environmental issues can exist on a tropical island which has no significant industrial activity to speak of. My retort usually is that it is a small step from "paradise to pestilence" in a tropical environment.

Bali is an excellent example of environmental management not keeping up with population and industrial growth. The moment you get off the plane, you can smell the exhaust from mopeds and automobiles that have no pollution control devices. The air pollution is not as bad as Manila yet, but the smog is evident when scanning the coastline of the most popular tourist areas. While tripping over the foot high curbs that are designed to keep stormwater from entering business establishments, the smell of raw sewage seeping out of sidewalk cracks permeates the street on occasion. Garbage is frequently dumped down hillsides or is stored in uncovered baskets, buckets, and concrete holding bins. Mange infested dogs compete for food from these areas, and rats can be seen scurrying around wherever you go. The sand on Kuta beach is turning black from stormwater runoff and rivers emptying unabated into the Indian Ocean. You can not drink the tap water, and you pray that the ice in your drink has enough chlorine to kill any disease causing bacteria.

It is obvious that the infrastructure - the underlying foundation of basic facilities needed for the functioning of a community - has not kept up with progress in Bali. The interaction of power producing, water supplying, sewage conveying, and solid waste management networks is crucial to sustaining development. The absence of such a system will lead to disease and economic decline. The East European countries I previously mentioned did not consider environmental factors in their drives for economic growth. The result was that resources needed to sustain this growth became polluted and eventually added to the decline of viable industries.

Japanese tourists visiting Guam often complain that it is dirty here. We can not deny that there is a lot of work needed to improve our appearance and overall living conditions. The truck loads of garbage collected during the last "Beauty and the Beach" cleanup effort are evidence that as a community, we have not grasped the importance of keeping our living space clean. Rats, flies and other pests are also no stranger to Guam's environment. In addition to occasional sewage releases into our streets, raw sewage is still occasionally discharged directly into the ocean surrounding our island. However, as a community governed by U.S. environmental protection laws, we offer a standard of living unmatched in many tropical areas of the world.

Litter laws, discharge permits, erosion control regulations, and Public Health requirements add additional burdens to businesses operating in our island. The payoff is that tourists and residents alike will be able to enjoy our natural environment without having to worry about exotic diseases and health hazards. This is what professionals in the field call "sustainable development."