On one of Lombok's most popular islands, tourists have started checking out of their hotels early because of water supply disruptions.
Water stopped reaching Gili Trawangan back on 3 September, and local businesses have had to look for ways to cover at least basic sanitation needs.
The news that 300 tourists left the island ahead of schedule came from Lalu Kusnawan, chairman of the Indonesian Hotel General Managers Association in West Nusa Tenggara (IHGMA NTB) and of the Gili Trawangan Hotels Association. According to him, these are figures the association collected from tourism businesses.
Water stopped reaching the island on 3 September at around 00:00 local time. Hotels, villas and restaurants have all been affected. Some hotels have had to use water from their pools for sanitation purposes.
Business owners have also tried bringing clean water over from Lombok. However, this is an expensive arrangement, and the water shipped in is still not enough to meet all of the island's needs.
The regional water utility (PDAM) attributes the disruptions to problems with the SWRO (Seawater Reverse Osmosis) system, a plant that desalinates seawater. It is currently being switched to a new operating mode and undergoing technical adjustments, while permit and environmental compliance issues are being sorted out at the same time.
PDAM is now working with the North Lombok authorities and other relevant agencies to fix the problem. However, there is still no firm timeline for restoring the water supply: that can only be set once the on-site technical assessment is complete.
In case the disruptions drag on, PDAM is preparing emergency water deliveries. Priority will go to local residents, medical facilities and public sites, as well as to basic sanitation needs.
While specialists work on the water supply system, hotels and restaurants have been urged to conserve water and stop using it for non-essential purposes.
The timing is particularly bad for the tourism business: Gili Trawangan is seeing an especially high number of visitors right now, with 3,000 or more tourists arriving on the island every day.
According to the head of the Gili Trawangan Hotels Association, this is not the first time water problems have come up. He pointed out that business owners regularly pay taxes and fees to the local authorities and also pay for water services. That is why businesses are demanding that the authorities resolve the issue quickly.
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