On Aug. 1, the government increased the ticket price to Komodo and Padar Islands of the Komodo National Park to Rp 3.75 million (US$251), from the previous ticket price of around Rp 200,000.

The move was intended to limit the number of visitors to protect the Komodo habitat, with a study by the Komodo National Park Agency recommending ideal yearly visitor numbers of 219,000 for Komodo Island and 39,420 for Padar Island.

However, local community and tourism providers have opposed the plan, arguing that a lower number of overall visitors at the national park would reduce their income while the designation of Rinca Island for mass tourism would put pressure on it and undermine conservation efforts. 

In protest, tourism providers in the Komodo National Park began a month-long strike starting last week, with at least 700 workers participating in it.

Among the rallies held was at the Komodo Airport, during which the police detained at least three protesters.

West Manggarai Police Chief Sr. Adj. Comr. Felli Hermanto said that the police named one of the three detained protesters identified as a suspect for disrupting security and public order.

Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) deputy coordinator Rivanlee Anandar said that police treatment of the protests against the Komodo Island ticket-price increase had shown that repressive measures by the police were increasingly becoming commonplace.

When dealing with persons deemed to have caused public disorder, the police should have started with preventive measures, he said in Labuan Bajo, but the police skipped the step and proceeded to arrest protesters.

Rivanlee pointed out that the National Police Chief Decree (Perkap) No. 3/2019 on security assistance on national vital objects allowed the police to conduct security services only based on a Memorandum of Understanding between the object management and the police, while according to Perkap No. 12/2015 on tourism security, disturbances to tourism could come from internal and external sources.

“We are concerned that these [regulations] have been interpreted [in Labuan Bajo] literally that protests in any shape are considered as disturbances that must be repressed in any way possible,” Rivanlee said.

He said that the two regulations have been and would continue to be used as a basis for repression against protests against national strategic projects or national vital objects.

“We urge that these regulations need to be reviewed. Protests which are a form of expression by citizens should not be considered as disturbances,” Rivanlee said.

Threat to livelihood

Separately, Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA) head of policy advocacy department Roni Septian said that the increased ticket price was another attempt to deprive the locals around the Komodo Island of their livelihood in favor of privatization and monopoly over tourism management at the national park.

The East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) administration had previously appointed its province-owned company PT Flobamor to manage tourism within the national park.

Roni said that the government's reasoning in increasing the ticket price for conservation purposes was unfounded as residents of Komodo Island had been living in Komodo Island for centuries alongside the endemic creature without help from the government.

“[By increasing the ticket price] instead of settling agrarian conflicts, the government would introduce structural poverty to the Labuan Bajo people, who are reliant on the tourism industry,” he said.

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