Exit taxes, tourism The Jakarta Post, Tuesday, 13 January 2009
The increase in the exit tax is a big joke. Where is this money going to, is the paid tax being accounted for? On several occasions when traveling abroad I have been approached by officials at the airport who told me to pay them only Rp 500,000 (US$45) and I would then be escorted by an official and bypass Immigration officials to board my flight. I have always refused to do this, figuring that, due to unforeseen circumstances, I still might have to pay the required Rp 1,000,000 exit tax, so I could end up paying Rp 1,500,000. I also witnessed how many passengers traveling abroad took this opportunity to pay only the arranged Rp 500,000. This means the government is losing billions per day which airport officials are pocketing. Who is the government trying to fool? They should abolish this exit tax altogether because officials at the airport are smarter than the government. Luring tourists into this country with the Visit Indonesia 2008 slogan has failed. As Teuku Agam noted in his letter to The Jakarta Post on Dec. 27, 2008, tourists are being scared away by the ridiculous porn bill. The government should realize that the majority of farmers, who start standing knee-deep in their paddy mud at 5 a.m. each morning, consume alcohol to keep warm. Countless fishermen who stay out on their boats for two days or more also drink alcohol to keep warm at night. These people would never survive without their alcohol. Is the government now prohibiting this alcoholic beverage too? Foreign tourists drink wine, scotch, gin, vodka, and the sort because it is part of their culture. We cannot forbid this just as they cannot stop us from eating rice and noodles and smoking our kretek (clove cigarettes) when we visit their countries. Wake up President Yudhoyono, succumbing to a group of ridiculous people with ridiculous ideas only causes this country to lose billions in foreign currency which tourists could be bringing into this country. Many are now flocking to Malaysia (predominantly Muslim but without ridiculous laws). Instead of imposing ridiculous laws, start improving infrastructure and airport facilities. The airport toilets all over Indonesia are an absolute disgrace. I just returned from Manado where the toilet facilities are a total disaster. Gov. Sarundayang, do something about this, an international conference on oceans is being held in your town soon. LYNNA VAN DER ZEE-OEHMKE Bogor, West Java Source: THE JAKARTA POST URL: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/01/13/letter-exit-taxes-tourism.html ___________________________________________________________________________ Nama baru untuk Anda! Dapatkan nama yang selalu Anda inginkan di domain baru @ymail dan @rocketmail. Cepat sebelum diambil orang lain! http://mail.promotions.yahoo.com/newdomains/id/ ------------------------------------ http://www.SuratPembaca.info Komunitas Surat Pembaca IndonesiaYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/surat-pembaca/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/surat-pembaca/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[email protected] mailto:[email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
