RENON ~ Governor of Bali I Made Mangku Made Pastika has vowed to free Bali from beggars, an official said.

“I promise to free Bali from beggars so we can retain our reputation as a paradise island, and the ‘Island of Thousand Temples,’” Pastika said at the weekend.

He said when he was Bali Police chief, he often saw groups of beggars being dropped off in Tohpati, Denpasar, which led him to believe someone was coordinating the groups.

“I saw beggars in the street in the early morning. They were dropped off by someone in a pickup truck,” he said.

The governor’s statement followed a speech from a leader in Muntigunung village in Karangasem – said to be one of the island’s most economically deprived areas – who said he wanted to free the village from beggars by 2010.

“We are ashamed that our village is said to be where most beggars come from. Please help us to free our village from beggars by 2010,” he said.