T

he Batam municipal administration aim to collect donations from passengers at Hang Nadim Airport and domestic and international harbors in Batam as of Oct. 1, as part of its efforts to boost regional initiated income (PAD), despite breaching the law regulating non-tax state income (PNPB), and protests from tour operators.

The head of Batam’s transportation office, Zulhendri said the donation collections at harbors and airports would be effective as of Oct. 1. The policy is based on an agreement between the Batam municipality, the Batam municipal council and the Batam Regional Management Body (BPK). Batam will derive up to Rp 40 billion (US$4.7 million) annually from the contributions, a quite significant figure with which to augment the municipal coffers.

“We have received a recommendation from the Batam municipal council and we are only waiting to implement it. We will work together with airlines and shipping lines to collect the fees,” said Zulhendri.

The municipality has set the amount of donations at Rp 10,000 for each passenger at Hang Nadim Airport; Rp 15,000 per passenger at international seaports; and Rp 3,000 per passenger at domestic seaports.

The donations will constitute an additional payment beyond the airport tax and seaport tax, which are obligatory payments for all passengers. Thus, when added together, passengers will have to pay a total amount of Rp 40,000, Rp 55,000 or Rp 10,000, respectively.

Secretary-general at the Riau Islands branch of the Association of Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies (Asita), Andika, said on Wednesday that the policy would have a negative impact on the tourism industry in Batam, as the high cost burdened on sea and airport users would likely discourage tourists from visiting Batam.

 “We have been invited for a meeting to finalize the donations policy. Based on our calculations, if the policy is implemented, the amount of money paid by sea and airport users will be higher than Singapore and Malaysia, at a time when tour operators in Batam are competing with Singapore and Malaysia to attract visitors.

“It seems that the municipality is being short-sighted in its decision to collect the fees. If visitors are reluctant to come to Batam, the potential financial loss would be much greater than the potential gain with these fee collections,” said Andika.

Andika expressed concern that implementing the policy might cause anxiety among visitors because, by their very nature, donations are not obligatory but that could have a negative impact on the image of the coastal resort for visitors.

Batam’s BPK Sea Port Service section head Nutrin Sihaloho said the Batam municipality had actually wished to implement the donations policy for a long time.

However, in 2009, when the policy was consulted with the home minister, he disapproved it and sent a letter to the Riau Islands governor telling him to enlighten Batam’s mayor.

“Actually, the Batam municipality and the Batam BPK receive a portion of the sea and airport taxes, but as they deemed the amounts trivial, they decided to collect additional donations from passengers themselves. If the policy is enforced, it will violate the regulation on non-tax state income,” said Nutrin.

Nutrin added that many other provinces had revoked similar policies on passenger donations, as they were regarded as violating the existing regulation.

Riau Islands Deputy Governor Soeryo Respationo has called on the public and sea and airport users to not pay the fixed donations if they feel reluctant to do so, as donations are optional and not compulsory.

“As it is a form of contribution, I recommend people not to pay it. There is no law being violated if passengers are reluctant to pay. It’s the same as the Indonesian Red Cross donations at airports: Passengers may and may not contribute, as they decide,” said Soeryo.