Increased security

Watching the internet and the increase interest in Gili Sunut should be a good thing. But along with the extra attention the island is getting comes the visitor problems and the pollution they bring to this pure island.

Gili Sunut is a private island and no tours are allowed on the island. This is very important as a number of greedy tour operators in Jakarta and Lombok are already trying to selling tours to Sunut.

Security on the island will turn all boats away.

Please remember if you are visiting East Lombok take all your plastic bottle and rubbish home with you. It is not difficult. Do not throw your rubbish out of the car. Learn to respect the beautiful countryside and our environment.

Gili Sunut is not for public tours

Here's a large sign everyone should read before they pay a local tour operator to visit Gili Sunut.

This is private property and NO access is allowed.  The village was relocated a long time ago. Read this blog for for more details about the work Ocean Blue Resorts Indonesia is doing. 

Do not pay any tour operator offering you tours to Sunut. Security will turn you away. 

Reservoir fills Up

With the construction of the reservoir finished, the rainy season brought the much needed supply of water to the village.

These images were taking in November 2014 and since then the water level is now sufficient for the supply for the coming year.

Major infrastructure upgrade goes ahead

After a lengthy tender process, the Regional Government was pleased to confirm that in September this year it had awarded the new road contract to a specialist firm.

By the beginning of November construction of the final 8km of hotmix road to the OBR Nature Reservation was under way.

This is a major milestone for the communities along the new road and  for Ocean Blue Resorts 155 Hectare mainland site. As part of the larger tourism development masterplan for the region, the government with financial support from Ocean Blue Resorts Indonesia, will complete the road within the next few months.

Along with improved road access, the national power company (PLN) is also working to complete the final 8km of electricity cabling.

The PLN team Installing the concrete posts is further advanced that the road construction team and currently only  4km from the entrance to our land.

New reservoir is completed

With thanks to the NTB Public Works Department, construction of the new reservoir below the village has been completed.

All we need now is the rain!  Along with new the 4m deep well that has been bored, the reservoir will provide non potable water for the community. 

With the serious water shortages this season and late arrival of the rains, the reservoir will be a vital lifeline in the future. 

New school nears completion

It has been a busy few months at the new village. Finally we are pleased to report that the new school is close to being completed.

The school has six class rooms and one teacher / admin room. Bright and spacious, the new classrooms are ready to be fitted out.

Currently the mosque doubles as a class room for the younger children. While the new teaching staff will help school age pupils, OBRI hopes to create additional classes to help the adult population to learn English.  

As there is no national curriculum to support our education plans, we will soon announce the start of a new book donation programme for English/Bahasah classes.

As always the kids we happy to show us round and pose for other photo. 

Before and After Relocation

We take drinking water for granted. On Sunut Island there was one old well that only provided a small amount of brown water. So this had to be boiled before it could be used. Then in about 2010 the well dried up. 

As an island community, the basics of life were never available. Forget washing, when you need water to cook with.  

During the construction of the new village, we built two vast water storage tanks at each end of the village. One is pictured here. These are connected by underground pipes to each home to supply fresh water. Its not perfect yet as we still need to refill the tanks by lorry. We hope in the not too distant future we will get the mains water pipeline finished.