South Pesisir To Set Tariff for Mandeh Tourism Ship

Painan, (Antara Sumbar) - The Government of South Pesisir District, West Sumatra will set the tariff for the ship in the Integrated Marine Tourism Area (KWBT) of Mandeh immediately by involving the ship owners in the local area.

"The Department of Transportation with the Department of Tourism, Youth and Sports and the owner of the vessel will conduct a meeting related to the tariff setting," head of local Department of Transportation, Abdul Hanif stated in Painan, Thursday (Sept 28).

He explained, so far, there is no similar tariff of ships that transport visitors to the tourism area of mandeh, so many tourists feel aggrieved by the high tariffs set unilaterally by ship owner.

It is necessary to determine the exact tariff for tourists who visit the mandeh so that it does not harmed by the brokers.

"The brokers are not only harming tourists, but also the owners of tourist boats. It causes bad image of South Pesisir tourism," he said.

After the tariff agreement, there will be regent regulation related to it so that there is no more practice of brokers in the field.

One tourist boat owner in the tourism area of Mandeh, Suatri (56) complained about the presence of many brokers in the region, because it makes tourists reluctant to visit.

"In addition to the impact on our income, the presence of brokers will eventually make the tourists to feel uncomfortable," she said.

These brokers operate at the entrance of tourist attraction, and at Puncak Mandeh by offering tour packages such as island trips, diving and so on.

But after the approval, it is actually infrequently tourists in getting bad service such as the condition of ship which is less than ideal, and sometimes it does not equipped with security facilities such as sailing voyage, so it gives such risky action to tourists.

"Generally, tourists pay a boat rental of Rp800 thousand, but the deposited to the ship owner is only Rp400 thousand," she added. (cha)

Editor: Vicha Faradika