Lombok BIL airport opened by SBY

CEO Martin Gow from OBR

The new international airport in Lombok opened in October and Ocean Blue Resorts Indonesia was invited to the grand opening with the President of Indonesia.

Pak Yasin celebrates at BIL 

Joining the officials at the party was CEO Mr Martin Gow. “It was a great honour to be invited and to hear the President’s support for Lombok. 

While congratulating the Governor on building a new tourist gateway, he reminded everyone that Lombok now needed investors to build the tourism industry and create jobs.  He made it very clear that the process needs to be more transparent for foreign investors like OBRI to feel confident to invest.”

What has this got to do with the community on Sunut? A lot.  As OBRI needs key documents from Jakarta, his speech was a clear signal to the various departments including BPN not hold up the process.

The community on Sunut and OBRI are waiting Jakarta. 

Camping on Sunut

Many thanks to everyone who helped organise Ocean Blue Resorts’ first camp out on Gili Sunut. It was a family affair with the both the CEO and Pak Yasin from Team Sunut bringing their sons to enjoy the gathering.

After pitching the tents the community invited us to watch them play football and to show off their ball skills. Keen to see what the ‘Tourists’could do, Jared Gow gave a quick demonstration his ball tricks and control.

With the late arrival of Pak Yasin and his team there was great entertainment as they pitched their tents in the dark. Fortunately there was a full moon that night to help, otherwise this seasoned team would also have missed the BBQ.

While we were well prepared with food and drink for out cook out, the community presented us with a feast fit for a king. Fresh tuna and lobsters where slow grilled on the open fire, freshly caught that day in the waters around the Island.  To add to our beach setting we enjoined camp fire songs and storytelling. As this was an unusual event for the community, we were as you’d expect, joined by dozens of villagers old and young to share the evening with us.

With an early start the next day, we also got the opportunity to watch the sun rise. It didn’t disappoint! 

Government Team tour Teanjah Anjah

Ocean Blue Resorts Indonesia and members of the Lombok Government visited Teanjah Anjah to tour the new village site.

With so much activity now taking place it was an ideal opportunity for everyone involved in the relocation programme to see first hand the great work Team Sunut is doing. CEO, Mr Martin, flew in his team from Singapore and Jakarta for the occasion. Pictured here from left to right are:

Moh Juaini Taufit (Camat of Jerowaru),
Mr James Weschler (Corporate Development, OBR Singapore),
Dr Mohammad Gofar (Jakarta),
Pak Muhasin ( Bupati Assisten)
Pak Yasin ( Head of Tourism).

‘I am very grateful to Pak Muhasin and Pak Yasin for helping to organise this event. We are close to completing Stage One of our Community Action Plan, so it’s an ideal time for the team to regroup on Gili Sunut to discuss the next phase of our resorts project,’ said Mr Martin. ‘With the village finished and the community moved into to Teanjah Anjah, we will then start building Indonesia’s first six star private island resort,’ he added.

Two weeks is a long time in Lombok!

There has been great progress at Teanjah Anjah. Now buzzing with activity, supplies arriving and builders on site, the 109 houses now start to look like a village.

The red terracotta roofs stretch into the distance, as the exteriors of more homes get completed. Still without windows, we are eagerly waiting for the delivery of doors and windows to weatherproof each house.

But as our photos show, the site now starts to look like a village.

A couple of impatient families have moved in, so we are careful to remind everyone that the site is not finished and they need to be ready to move as we assign the correct house to the right family.

It was great to hear from some of the villagers on Sunut and one family’s story of what it meant to move to Teanjah Anjah.

One young couple have been living with their family since marrying as they are unable to afford their own home.

But now thanks to the construction of the new village, they will be getting their own home and have space to start a family.

June sees progress at the village

After a private meeting with the Bupati to discuss the new village and the progress we are all making, it was a great moment to arrive at the site. The weather was still causing problems but construction was back on track with a new funding from Ocean Blue Resorts Indonesia, both materials and labour were being coordinated.

Many of the villagers accompanied Team Sunut to Teanjah Anjah as the news spread.

Every family is getting a new 3 room detached house. Concrete floors, brick walls and a terracotta roof will ensure that we build to a high standard. Each house when complete will also have its own private plot of land.

The founders of Ocean Blue Resorts, Stephen and Martin Gow, are pleased with the progress. ‘This has been a privately funded project by OBRI and so a massive challenge for us both financially and logistically’, said Martin, ‘but with the great support of the Governor, Bupati and Team Sunut we are building a more secure future for the community.’

We will be back in Teanjah Anjah in early July for another update.

You know who you are

It’s a sad world when large corporations loiter in the shadows waiting to pounce on the successes and good work of companies like Ocean Blue Resorts. If these hotel groups want to be involved in helping the community move to the new location OBR has spent years funding then pick up the phone or send an email to us.

Why the rant readers? We know that a certain hotel group attempted to negotiate with the local government to take over the island. This was not about helping build a sustainable future for the people on Gili Sunut but about money.

We know how business gets done in Indonesia. And we know who you are. If you are genuine in helping the community then we welcome hearing from you directly.

Teanjah Anjah Update

It would be great to report that the new village is finished and the community had moved in. But a combination of funding delays, operational issues and a rainy season like no other brought all construction work to a stop.

It’s a great disappointment for everyone especially as hopes were high that the relocation would happen before the rain started. But once the heavens opened there was no stopping the endless downpour. Laying the concrete foundations became impossible and rendering the walls a pointless task. So the decision was make not to fight Mother Nature and delay the project.

It has given nature the opportunity to show us what it can do and as you can see here, the new village was given a rich green carpet!

 With 60% of the new village completed, Team Sunut was able to assess the current conditions in the area and how best to restart the project.


The other reason for the visit was for Ocean Blue Resorts to announce that it wanted to push on with the construction and complete Teahjah Anjah. In meetings with all the senior staff within Team Sunut, a new schedule has been drawn up to ensure the flow funds, supplies and labour all work together to get this great project finished.

As the first private company in Indonesia to fund the construction of a complete new village, PT. Ocean Blue Resorts Indonesia is proud to be given this opportunity, knowing the enormous difference it will make to hundreds of needy people.