'Indonesia: UN experts denounce mega tourism project that tramples on human rights’, 31 March 2021

UN human rights experts today urged the Indonesian Government to respect human rights and the rule of law amid reports that a US$3 billion tourism project on Lombok island has involved aggressive land grabs, forced evictions of Sasak indigenous peoples, and intimidation and threats against human rights defenders. Farmers and fisher folks have been expelled from their land and have endured the destruction of their houses, fields, water sources, cultural and religious sites, as the Government of Indonesia and the ITDC (Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation) groomed Mandalika to become a ‘New Bali’... Mandalika, in Lombok’s poor West Nusa Tenggara Province, is set to be turned into an integrated tourism complex, comprising a Grand Prix motorcycle race circuit, parks, luxury hotels and resorts, including Pullman, Paramount Resort, and Club Med. The project is partly financed by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and has attracted more than US$1 billion investment by private businesses. The French group VINCI Construction Grands Projets is its largest investor, in charge of the Mandalika Circuit, hotels, a hospital, a water park, and other facilities. The experts also criticised a lack of due diligence by the AIIB and private businesses to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address adverse human rights impacts, as set forth in the UN Guiding Principles on business and human rights...