Denpasar – Tourists who are visiting Kuta beach need to be more careful, especially if they want to go swimming or surfing because of the high waves that are starting to emerge on the beach. The waves at Kuta beach were almost three meters high.
I Made Suparka, the coordinator of Badung Lifeguard (Balawista), said “Actually the waves are normal for this time of year, but the tourists need to be more careful in order to avoid any accidents.”
He explained that the accidents usually occur in the remote areas where there are no lifeguards patroling. The time of the accidents are usually very early in the morning or late at night when it is forbidden to swim in the ocean.
The current at the beach is also one of the causes of the accidents. That is why the officers place red flags around the areas where the current is very strong. “We always forbid the tourists to swim near the red flags. We oblige them to swim between the two ywllow flags,” added Mr. Suparka.
The number of lifeguard officers in Badung regency is not ideal considering the area and the number of tourists. The regency should at least heve twice their current number in order to provide the proper services to the tourists.
Mr. Suparka said, “Badung only has 128 officers but there are less in other regencies so we must concentrate on the areas which have many visitors such as Kuta Beach. We have 6 posts around the beach and each of them has 8 officers.”
Other beaches in Badung regency are Labuhan Sait, Pecatu Graha, southern Jimbaran, Kedonganan, German beach, Legian, Seminyak, Batu Belig, Canggu, and Seseh. Based on the data in Badung regency, the number of accidents in 2006 was 274 cases where 26 people died. In 2007, there were 294 accidents and 17 people were killed. In 2008, there were 314 accidents and 15 people were killed and from January through May 2009 there have been 6 people who died at Kuta beach.
News by International Bali Post
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