PKR: A double blow for Sabah tourism
Published on: Thursday, August 21, 2014
Kota Kinabalu: The State Government, the Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry in particular, should be more proactive in tackling tourism fraud, said Api-APi Assemblywoman Christina Liew."Sabah had been hit by a series of kidnapping incidents in the east coast which affected our tourism industry and now we are being troubled by reports and complaints of tourists being cheated by local tour guides, both licensed and unlicensed."Hence, it's time for the State Government and the ministry concerned to come up with proactive and effective measures to protect our now much-battered tourism industry," she said.
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She agreed with State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun that cheating cases in the tourism industry, as with all industries, are not easy to deal with, because there is no guarantee that everyone in the tourism business is honest. However, Liew said, it should not be an excuse for not putting up effective measures to safeguard the tourism industry, before our image goes down further."The Minister's statement is a strong indication that there's a real need for the ministry to pull up its socks and to start picking the best brains, both in the ministry and the industry, and to come up with some effective measures to safeguard the industry, before it goes down the path of our national carrier. If that happens, it would be a real waste of the taxpayers' money in building up the industry all these years," she said.Liew proposed that the ministry look into the feasibility of establishing a "Professional Indemnity Fund" to provide for compensation to tourists who are genuinely cheated by tour operators.
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"The State Government can always consider setting up such fund on its own, or in collaboration with the tourism industry players, with clear guidelines drawn up to prevent potential abuses," she said.She also opined that the State Government through the ministry concerned should take over the licensing and enforcement of tour guiding operation from the Federal Ministry of Tourism, so as to ensure a more effective regulation and enforcement of the industry.
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She noted that the Sabah Chapter of the Malaysian Association of Tours and Travel Agents (Matta) had recently lamented that none of the complaints (of various offences) forwarded by the association to the ministry have been acted upon.Matta President Hamzah Rahmat, who was also present at the press conference held here recently, had apparently said that the ministry should penalise the perpetrators under Sabah's Tourism Licensing Act 1999 that provides for penalties of up to RM50,000 fine or five years' jail.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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