Tourists to Pangkor Island are shocked to learn that the ferry fare from Marina Island jetty has been increased from RM10 to RM14.
Civil servant Anuar Mat, 42, from Muar, Johor, said he and four others were charged RM70 when they bought tickets recently.
“We were charged RM14 each for the return ticket to the island.
“Although it was not much, we regretted that we were only told about the price hike when we bought the tickets at the counter,” said the backpacker, who was on his fourth visit to the island.
He said he had suggested to his friends to stay on the island for two nights.
Mohd Syamsul Bukhari, 30, and his wife, Zuliana Aris, 28, had chosen the island to spend their honeymoon.
“We did a search on ferry rates on the marinaisland.com website in October last year before we got married.
“It stated that the fare for adults was RM10 and RM5 for children,” said the businessman.
Zuliana said although the ferry service was good, the RM4 hike was drastic.
She suggested that the ferry operator provide different rates for families and students.
“The rate is reasonable for us but how about families with several children or students on school trips?
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A ferry operator, who has been operating for more than 30 years at the Marina Island Jetty, said the hike was timely.
“We have been charging the same rate — RM10 for adults, RM5 for children and RM6 for Pangkor Island residents — for return tickets all this while.
“It is time we increased the fare as we have been absorbing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) since it was implemented on April 1, 2015,” said a representative.
He said the fluctuating prices of fuel was another reason for the fare hike.
He said the new fare, effective Jan 1, applied only to adults and that the fare for children remained unchanged.
On claims that there was a lack of information or notice, he said the company had posted the new rates on its Facebook page on Jan 1 and had advised tourists to refer to it.
However, he apologised for misleading information on the prices, saying he would contact the website administrator to update the figure.