DENPASAR ~ Bali legislators have expressed concern about Gianyar Regent Cok Ace’s refusal to obey an order from Bali’s governor to send an elephant back to its former home in Bogor, West Java, an official said.

Deputy head of the Bali House of Representatives Bali IB Suryatmaja said the elephant, currently housed at Bali Safari and Marine Park in Gianyar, did not have the documents necessary to stay at the park and had been ordered home by Governor I Made Mangku Pastika.

Suryatmaja said Regent Cok Ace was committing “a type of treason” by refusing to put into action the process of sending the elephant back to Java.

“The regent has made a very strange decision to go against the orders of the governor and the environment minister. The letter they sent to him was very clear. The decision had been made that the elephant could not stay in Bali,” Suryatmaja said on Tuesday.

He said if the regent continued to stall the process of returning the elephant, the governor would step in and resolve the matter.