Officer uses tractor to disperse crowd in Bali’s Kedonganan Beach
Local authorities reportedly used an amusingly unconventional method to disperse the crowd in Kedonganan Beach recently, after some people evidently ignored the closures of local beaches to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Bali.
In one particular photo that has garnered attention on social media, an officer appears to have hopped on a tractor that is moving along the beach to shoo away beachgoers. As captioned by Detik, the beachgoers appear to be foreigners who had been sunbathing.
The tractor scene was captured by a photographer from state news agency Antara, Fikri Yusuf.
The officer in the photo, who has not been identified, reportedly went on a patrol in Kedonganan Beach with a mobile loudspeaker in tow, announcing that people had to leave the area because it was closed to the public.
This particular beach, like others across Bali, has been closed to the public as part of an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19 on the island. Local officials said access is only allowed for fishing and religious ceremonies for the time being.
Reports of people ignoring social distancing advisory are becoming more common recently, with foreigners and local residents alike having evidently ignored official calls to stay at home.
Last weekend, a party thrown by a group of foreign nationals in Bali went viral for ignoring social distancing, sparking outrage from Indonesian netizens and eventually requiring four of them to report to authorities.
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