Rio Prakoso, a member of the local tourism organization, said that tourism workers were engaged in a clean-up activity at the Puncak Waringin tourist site when security forces dispersed them.

“We were cleaning and picking up trash in the area when armed personnel came and told us to disperse at around noon Central Indonesian Time,” Rio told media portal detik.com on Monday evening in Labuan Bajo, the gateway town to the park.

He said the “armed personnel” had beaten up and arrested several other people as they were being dispersed. Tourism workers then went to the West Manggarai Police station in the evening to show solidarity with those who had been arrested.

“We came in peace and were sitting in front of the office, but the police proceeded to disperse us with force,” said Rio.

Tourism businesses in Komodo National Park began a month-long strike on Monday as the government imposed an 18-fold price hike for admission to the park's most popular islands, Komodo and Padar, from Rp 200,000 (US$13) to Rp 3.75 million ($252).

The move is intended to limit the number of visitors to protect the endangered Komodo dragons, the world's largest lizards, from overexposure to humans and environmental damage at the World Heritage site in NTT.

Popular

Firefighter dies battling blaze at illegal Jakarta dumpsite

Fighting forest fires starts with communities

GDP target a tall order after growth slowdown