Tourists to fund RI's antiterror campaign

Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dorodjatun Kuntjoro- Jakti claimed on Monday that the funds obtained from the government's new visa policy would be used to help finance antiterrorism measures.

He said that the campaign to fight terrorism in the country was very expensive.

"We spend a lot of money when we search for terror suspects, and this issue has become serious and globalized. Therefore, we are asking for the everybody's understanding on this issue," Dorodjatun said during a meeting to brief players from the country's tourism industry on the new visa policy, which will be implemented on Feb. 1, and include a shorter stay (from 60 to 30 days) and a higher price (from free to between US$10 and $30) for tourists entering the country for a short stay.

Indonesia has been targeted as a possible hideout for international terrorists due to its porous borders and lax or corrupt security officials.

The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights had issued the new policy which applies to visitors from over 20 countries and one special territory (Taiwan).

It will also apply to the United States, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates.

At present those countries enjoy a free 60-day short visit pass, a policy enacted in the 1980s. The new policy will require a visitor to pay US$30 for a 30-day visit and $10 for a three-day visit, either at an Indonesian Embassy abroad or at their port of entry here.

Meanwhile, citizens of other countries that currently provide free tourist visas to Indonesian citizens will still be allowed to enter the country without paying.

But Dorodjatun said that the new policy was only temporary, saying that "when the situation is back to normal (no more terrorists) it will be possible for us drop it."

Tourism operators have protested the new policy, saying that it would deal a serious blow to the country's tourism sector, which has already suffered from various problems like the Bali and Marriott terrorist attacks as well as the SARS epidemic.

Chairman of the Association of the Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies, Ben Sukma, said funding the fight against terrorism was the duty of the government and the national police, not the tourism community.

He said that the funds to finance antiterrorism measures should come from the state budget, not taken from international visitors.

He also said the timing, at present, was not right to implement the new policy. "It would be wiser to suspend (the implementation) until after the elections," he said.

Ben also argued that other member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) such as Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore would benefit at Indonesia's expense as they were not implementing such "barriers" and putting the burden on the tourism sector to fund antiterror measures.

"And for sure they (neighboring countries with free visas for most country's citizens) will take advantage of the new visa policy implemented here, as more international tourists will prefer to visit those countries, instead of Indonesia," he said.

Commenting on the government's target of five million international visitors this year, Ben doubted the figure could be reached with the implementation of the new visa policy "it will be lower than five million international visitors this year."