We are blessed on this island with a wealth of readily available, and affordable, technology that is on a par with that of many nations, and in some cases far surpasses it. This is a fortuitous by-product of the multibillion-dollar tourism industry that demands instant and reliable access to the wider world.

Where once such luxuries as high-speed internet and satellite-relayed television were the sole realm of the well-to-do, nowadays in Bali, mass-market appeal sees these products eminently inexpensive and, for the most part, reliable.

Long gone, now, are the days when foreigners holidaying in Bali and resident here bemoaned dial-up internet that never connected or sought weeks-old newspapers to try to get a glimpse of what was going on outside the island.

These days, everyone is connected, and in the know.

Or so we thought.

It continues to surprise us that a section of expatriate life in Bali remains as closed off to external events, and their consequences here, as ever. Some openly admit they have no idea what’s going on, as though they were living in the Dark Ages and not the 21st Century.

The biggest threat to human life on this island remains the deadly rabies virus, which continues to cut down people, young and old. The death toll is inching towards 70 since the outbreak was identified in the southernmost Bukit area in late 2008, and hardly a week goes by without another death reported. Yet as this horrific disease multiplies in the vast reservoir of stray dogs roaming the island, some people in Bali remain in the dark – and worse, hold animal welfare higher than that of humans.

These people are fierce critics of attempts to control the extraordinary number of stray dogs in Bali. They adopt a kind of laissez-faire put-animals-first outlook as people — all Balinese to date — die around them. Let us not cull dogs but vaccinate them and that will solve the problem, they vociferously cry, as the lines of people bitten by strays grow longer at hospital vaccination queues. Such folk vehemently insist the authorities’ rabies-control measures are doomed, because their hearts bleed at the sight of piled-up dead dogs. They say killing dogs doesn’t work, that only vaccination does, and cite international case studies and advice.

We have made our case for culling of Bali’s stray dogs on this page before and won’t repeat it today. But we will reiterate this: Decades of lax (or no) control over dogs has led to this human health crisis. Bali’s stray dogs have been irresponsibly allowed to multiply at will — we still see this every day on the streets — to the extent that the population has exploded and become unmanageable. It needs to be wiped out, and along with it the rabies virus. For anyone to suggest otherwise is evidence of a deathly delusion.

LEGIAN

Bali’s continuing unseasonable rains soaked parts of the island again this week after a heavy downpour overnight last Thursday and Friday that brought serious flooding to Kuta, Legian, Seminyak, Sanur and parts of Denpasar.

Two schools were buried by mud and roads in some areas were under a metre of water. At Sanur three cows were swept away and drowned by a flash flood.

The forecast is for showery weather with possible heavy rain at times to continue next week. The meteorological service had earlier said the late-starting, long-running rainy season would end in July.

In last week’s deluge, more than 100 people living on Jl Dewi Sri in Kuta had to leave their homes and businesses because of flooding. One local resident,
Yanto, said severe flooding now occurred in the area at least four times a year.

“This time we were inundated by a metre of water but if the rains are heavier water can reach head height,” he said.

Other areas badly affected by Thursday’s rain were Jl Kunti, the police barracks on the Ngurah Rai Bypass.

Flooding in the Sidakarya area of Sanur swept through that area at 1am last Friday, waking locals who fled to higher ground. Flooding also hit houses on Jl Pura Demak at Padang Sambian, West Denpasar.

Two elementary schools on the banks of the Muding River in Denpasar were partly buried by mud left by the floods.

The ongoing rains and stormy weather have put coffee crops in Tabanan at risk, kept ferries in port at times and brought heavy seas to the Bali Strait coast that in recent weeks have led to at least three deaths, one of them an Indonesian tourist at Kuta Beach.

News from www.thebalitimes.com