KUCHING: The Sarawak state government concurs with its Sabah counterpart on the need to discuss several issues pertaining to the Tourism Act 2017, especially on the implementation of the new tourism tax.
State Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister, Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, said both state administrations have a common stand and concerns over the enforcement of the new tax mechanism under the Act.
Karim said he agrees with state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun, who reckoned that further deliberations are needed to clarify issues surrounding the Act and the implementation of the tax.
“We are not saying that we oppose the implementation of the tax, since it has been said that Sarawak and Sabah will greatly benefit from it.
“However, we feel that there are things that need to be addressed, and all affected parties need to sit down and look into the matter.
“There are many tourism players in both states and they need to be informed and understand the mechanism and details on how the tax would be enforced,” he told reporters here today.
He was asked to comment on the invitation made by Masidi for tourism boards in both states to discuss several important issues related to the Act.
Karim said tourism officials from both states have started engaging each other and discussing the implementation and impact of the tax towards the tourism industry in Sarawak and Sabah.
“Discreetly, the meeting (between tourism officials in Sarawak and Sabah) started last week and is on-going.
“We will always be together as Borneo states, and we will always discuss with each other policies which will directly impact Sarawak and Sabah,” he said.
Asked on claims that the public is disappointed with the decision by Sarawak to adopt the implementation of the tax, Karim said it would be unfair for him to make a sweeping comment.
“Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has given his assurance that the tax collection would be distributed to three regions, namely Sarawak, Sabah and the Peninsula.
“This means we stand to gain the most from the implementation of the new tax since most of the collection will come from the Peninsula.
“Such assurance was also (offered) by Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, who has admitted that the tax would benefit Sarawak more,” he added.