Clean Water Crisis Forces Hundreds of Tourists to Leave Gili Trawangan Early

RRI.CO.ID, Mataram - A severe disruption in clean water supply has forced hundreds of tourists to check out early from accommodations on Gili Trawangan, one of West Nusa Tenggara’s (NTB) flagship resort islands in North Lombok Regency.

The supply outage began abruptly on Thursday, September 3, 2026, at midnight local time, paralyzing sanitation facilities across local hotels, resorts, and restaurants. Hospitality operators reported resorting to draining swimming pools to maintain basic hygiene for guests. The blackout comes during a high-density travel period when daily visitor arrivals exceed 3,000.

Despite costly emergency efforts to transport freshwater by boat from mainland Lombok, supply remains critically inadequate. Business owners have issued an urgent demand for regional administration intervention, warning that unresolved infrastructure failures threaten the island's international reputation.

Hospitality industry representatives expressed deep frustration over recurring utility failures, calling for immediate municipal intervention and preparing direct escalation to central government authorities.

Chairperson of the Indonesian Hotel General Manager Association (IHGMA) NTB and Chairman of the Gili Trawangan Hotel Association Lalu Kusnawan confirmed the scale of early guest departures.

"Our records show that at least 300 tourists have chosen to check out early and depart Gili Trawangan," Lalu said when contacted by phone on Saturday, September 5, 2026, as quoted by Antara.

He described the drastic operational measures local hotels were forced to take. "Hotel operators even resorted to draining their swimming pools to meet basic sanitation needs because there is no clean water flowing," Lalu explained.

Highlighting the severe timing during peak tourism season, Kusnawan criticized the lack of sustainable solutions despite businesses consistently fulfilling local tax obligations.

"We don't know how long this condition will persist, if this continues for a week, we cannot predict the damage, especially since this is not the first time it has occurred," he noted.

He confirmed plans to escalate the crisis to the highest executive level in Jakarta. "We have raised this issue with the North Lombok Regency Administration and the NTB Provincial Administration, in the near future, we will send a formal letter to the President regarding this clean water crisis. The draft is ready and will be dispatched to Jakarta shortly," he added. ***