HEYBALI – For travelers exploring Lombok’s dramatic southern coastline, Bukit Seger has become a familiar stop, a scenic hilltop near Kuta Beach with sweeping views that regularly show up on travel itineraries and Instagram feeds alike. This week, it became known for something else entirely: a viral video exposing what one visitor called an outright shakedown.
A Parking Fee That Didn’t Add Up
The controversy began when a visitor, posting under the Instagram handle @faricayo, documented her experience parking her motorbike near Bukit Seger and being charged 10,000 rupiah, roughly 60 US cents. On its own, that might have seemed unremarkable. But when she looked closely at the ticket she’d been handed, something didn’t match. It read “Bau Nyale Festival entry retribution”, a reference to an entirely different event, not a standard parking receipt for the site at all.
The situation escalated further once she crossed the footbridge and began climbing the hill itself. There, a second person approached her and demanded another 10,000 rupiah, this time simply to continue walking up the hill. When she pushed back, pointing out she had already paid a steep parking fee, the price dropped to 5,000 rupiah.
The Ticket That Told the Real Story
The most damning detail came when she asked for an official receipt. What she received was a printed ticket with a face value of just 2,500 rupiah, roughly 15 US cents, a fraction of what she had actually been asked to pay at each stage.
In her video, the visitor was clear that the amount of money involved wasn’t really the point. What angered her, she said, was the dishonesty baked into the entire interaction, being charged wildly inflated, inconsistent amounts by people who weren’t operating with any transparent, official pricing structure. She didn’t hesitate to call it what she believed it was: extortion.
Local Government Response: We Can’t Act Until We Know Who Owns the Land
Central Lombok Deputy Regent M. Nursiah addressed the controversy directly, acknowledging that unauthorized fee collection at tourist sites damages Lombok’s reputation with visitors. But her explanation for why authorities haven’t intervened reveals a deeper, more structural problem than a single dishonest ticket-seller.
According to Nursiah, the land at Bukit Seger is believed to be privately owned, and its legal status has never been formally clarified. Without that clarity, the district government says it lacks the authority to regulate who can charge fees there, or to stop unauthorized collection when it happens.
“If it relates to the land status at Seger, we will assign the relevant regional agencies to consult with the National Land Agency to clarify the land status, so its use, function, management, and operations can be properly aligned,” Nursiah told reporters on Wednesday, August 19.
She said the government intends to determine whether the land is held by an individual, a company, or, as some locals claim, under customary Adat Ulayat communal ownership, a category of land tenure recognized under Indonesian law that predates formal certification.
“There are many claims about who owns it, some say it belongs to this person, others say that person. Some say it’s Adat Ulayat land,” Nursiah said, describing the site as a recurring source of local dispute.
A Longer-Term Fix May Be on the Table
Nursiah revealed that Central Lombok Regent Lalu Pathul Bahri has floated a more permanent solution: applying for a Land Use Right, known as HPL, that would place Bukit Seger’s management directly under district government control rather than leaving it in contested private hands.
“The Regent has also previously told us, along with the National Land Agency, to clarify the status and designate the area as regional government HPL land, so its management can be regulated by the government,” Nursiah said.
Until that process concludes, however, officials concede there is little they can formally do about unauthorized fee collection at the site, even as public frustration mounts.
What This Means If You’re Visiting Lombok
For international travelers and Bali-based expats planning trips across the strait to Lombok’s southern beaches, the episode is a useful reminder to request an official printed receipt for any parking or entry fee, and to treat verbally quoted prices with healthy skepticism at less formally managed sites. Bukit Seger’s scenic appeal hasn’t changed, but until land ownership is resolved, visitors may want to budget for inconsistency at the gate.