Businesspeople cry foul over policy on single tariff visa

Fadli , The Jakarta Post , Batam | Fri, 02/05/2010 10:54 AM | The Archipelago

Businesspeople in Riau Islands are up in arms about the new visa-on-arrival (VoA), claiming it has led to increased operational costs.

Companies at the economic exclusive zone in Batam, Bintan and Karimun have to pay more for corporate meetings, machine services and after-sale services, said General Manager PT Bintan Inti Industrial Estate (BIIE) Jamin Hidayat.

The new policy, which has been in effect since Jan. 26, adopts a single tariff of US$25 for the first 30 days in Indonesia, to visitors from 64 countries. There is no longer a seven-day visa-on-arrival for $10.

The new regulation stipulates that Indonesia will provide a 30-day visa-on-arrival, with a possible 30-day extension.

Jamin, who chairs the Indonesian Entrepreneurs Association of Bintan, said top-level managers mostly came to Bintan for one-day meetings, and did not need 30-day visas.

“The same applies when companies deal with overseas buyers who come to check after-sales services.”

PT BIIE has 21 foreign investors with a total investment of $500 million, and employs 11,000 workers.

Jamin said there was a high rate of travel between Bintan and Singapore with many top-level managers making the island state their home base while working at companies in Bintan, Batam and Karimun.

“We have sent a letter to the government, in this case, the coordinating economic minister, asking for a special tariff at the border zones where we operate.”

Jamin suggested either a return to the old tariff or a daily charge.

“Those foreigners are not visiting for a holiday. They are here for two days at the longest. They do not need 30 days. This [VoA] tariff is not prudently implemented. It lacks socialization and has jolted us.”

Tourism, tour and travel businesses are reported to be affected.

Robert Iwan Loriaux, head of the Tourism Office of Riau Islands, said they had sent a letter of complaint to the Culture and Tourism Ministry.

“There used to be 500 golfers visiting every weekend. The number has dropped by more than half.”

The Jakarta Post’s previous reports cited tour and travel company PT Andika VIT as saying the new policy caused it to lose an order from a group of 38 tourists from India, who cancelled their visit to Batam through the Harbor Bay ferry port on Thursday.

Robert said the policy was unfair compared to the government’s fiscal policy, in which Indonesian travelers who hold a Taxpayers’ Registration Number do not have to pay fees to the immigration office.

“For Indonesians who spend money overseas, the government exempts them from taxes while foreigners who enter Indonesia and spend at least $100 must go through complicated bureaucracy.”

Like Jamin, Robert supported a special policy for Riau Islands.

Riau Islands told not to worry about visa-on-arrival single tariff

Fadli , The Jakarta Post , Batam | Tue, 02/09/2010 1:44 PM | The Archipelago

The Riau Islands' businesspeople and provincial administration have been told to stop criticizing the government's new visa-on-arrival tariff, and to drop their demands for special treatment in the matter.

Visitors applying for visas on arrival have to pay US$25 which allows them to stay for 30 days, with the possibility of a 30-day extension for another $25.

This new single tariff policy has been in effect since Jan. 26, and applies to visitors from 64 designated countries

Businesspeople at the Riau Islands, especially those in Batam, Bintan and Karimun - known as the BBK economic zone - claim the new policy was forcing them to pay unnecessary extra costs and demanded that either the tariff revert to the old system, in which they could pay $10 for the first seven days, or incorporate a daily charge.

I Gede Widiharta, head of the provincial Justice and Human Rights office, said the new tariff was part of the central government's prerogatives in foreign policy.

He added the central government could not easily revert to the $10 tarrif.

"The new policy prevails in every part of the Indonesian territory. Do not interpret regional autonomy disproportionately," Widiharta told The Jakarta Post, over the weekend.

However, Governor Ismeth said the Justice and Human Rights Minister had given BBK a green light to implement the old tariff.

Speaking to the media during the officiation of a swimming event on Friday, Ismeth said that the possible reversion had been conveyed by the minister on the sidelines of a meeting between governors from across the country and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Cipanas Palace on Tuesday.

"The minister has approved the implementation of the old tariff in Batam, Bintan and Karimun, which is $10 for a week stay and not $25 for a month stay," he said, adding this only applied to the Riau Islands.

Riau businesspeople argue the new policy has badly affected their businesses, predicting a potential loss of Rp 500 billion a year due to possible decrease both in the tourism industry and business sectors.

Widiharta, however, said based on the data at his office, which also oversees the immigration affairs in the province, there had not been a significant drop of foreign tourist visits following the implementation of the new tariff in the province.

He added that most of the 1.5 millions of tourists visiting the province came from Singapore and Malaysia, which require no visas.

Only a small number came from Korea, Japan, Taiwan and India, which are included among the 64 countries.

He said an evaluation on the impact of the new tariff would be conducted three months after its implementation. He expressed confidence in the new policy's effectiveness and merit.

Mixed messages on visa-on-arrival policy

Sun, 02/07/2010 3:10 PM | Headlines

INDONESIA: The central government has promised not to impose the new visa-on-arrival policy in Riau Island's province's exclusive economic zones, Riau Governor Ismeth Abdullah said.

The governor said that the new policy would hurt businesspeople in the province, who earlier protested the new policy, saying it increased operating costs.

Ismeth said on Friday night Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar had informed him of the decision on the sidelines of a meeting between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the country's governors at Cipanas Palace in Bogor, West Java, on Tuesday.

"Patrialis agreed to roll back the new visa-on-arrival tariff for Batam, Bintan and Karimun to the original US$10 for a seven-day stay, so there is no need to pay $25 for a 30-day visit," he said.

"The revised decision is exclusive to the Riau Islands areas, which borders other countries, and from what I heard, the new visa-on-arrival rule still applies to other parts of the country." - JP

Investors pay attention to election

Fri, 02/12/2010 2:06 PM | The Archipelago

BATAM, Riau Islands: Foreign investors at the Batam, Bintan and Karimun (BBK) special economic zone are alert to the upcoming direct gubernatorial election in July as they are looking forward to "friendlier" policies in the future.

Head of the Riau Islands office of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce, Johannes Kennedy Aritonang, said Thursday the investors did not care who would be the next governor as everything was still centralized in Jakarta. "The investors are just monitoring and looking forward to improvements in infrastructure and facilities ..." - JP

Doctors resign over payment

Fadli , The Jakarta Post , Batam | Tue, 03/02/2010 2:17 PM | The Archipelago

Seventeen of the 22 doctors working at the state hospital in Karimun regency hospital, Riau Islands, have reportedly resigned, citing they had yet to receive welfare fees from the Karimun regency administration.

The doctors tendered their resignation on Feb. 24, although the news was leaked to the press Monday. The Riau Islands police office has sent four doctors to the hospital to address the staff shortage.

The doctors' resignation was triggered by the administration office's failure to pay their medical service allowances as part of the employee welfare package. The doctors have demanded the regency administration replace the hospital management.

Medical team chairman Ridwan Abdullah told The Jakarta Post on Monday that the resignation was the last option chosen by the doctors after the hospital management and Karimun administration office had failed to address their complains about the allowance.

Until their resignation, the doctors had not received the allowances due to the sluggish process of funds disbursement.

"We were also concerned about the condition of medical equipment at the hospital, such as grubby surger wear," said gynecologist Ridwan.

"We asked the hospital to replace them but to no avail. The budget for the hospital is substantial, but it could not fulfill the basic demand. We eventually decided to quit."

The resignees are made up of eight specialists, two dentists and seven general practitioners. Their resignation, said Ridwan, had affected services, especially those for the low-income patients reliant on health insurance.

"Our struggle apparently needs sacrifices. We also wish people to know that we also need attention. People outside might see consider our lives to be comfortable, but that's not the case," he said.

"That's one of the reasons why the regency administration has cited that doctors can seek additional sources of income from other places, so much so that our rights are being deprived. That's definitely wrong."

Ridwan said a team from the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) and its Riau Islands' chapter is currently mediating with the Karimun regency administration to discuss the issue. "If our demands are not met, we will resign and seek other places to practice."

Karimun Regent Nurdin Basirun said the demands from the doctors were unreasonable. He deemed the doctors to be impatient with the regency administration's efforts to improve the hospital management.

"Let them just quit. Their demands are beyond the limit. We will look for other doctors."

Resigned doctors back to work

Mon, 03/08/2010 1:53 PM | The Archipelago

BATAM, Riau Islands: Seventeen doctors who resigned from the state-owned Karimun hospital because of unpaid welfare payments in Feburary, have returned to work after the regency administration agreed to meet the doctors' demands.

The chairman of the Riau branch of the Association of Indonesian Doctors' (IDI), Afrizal Dachlan, said the agreement was made during a mediating meeting between the IDI, IDI's ethical code council and Karimun Regent Nurdin Basirun.

"I can assure today that all the previously resigned doctors will be back to work again," Afrizal told The Jakarta Post.

Afrizal, however, declined to confirm whether the regency administration would fulfill all the doctors' demands.

Seventeen of the 22 doctors working at the hospital reportedly resigned, after claiming they had yet to receive welfare payments from the Karimun regency administration.

Chairman of the hospital's medical committee Ridwan Abdullah, who was among those who resigned, said the resignation was actually the result of an accumulation of problems that the hospital's management had failed to properly address. - JP

Imported cars held in Batam

Fadli , The Jakarta Post , Batam | Fri, 03/26/2010 10:25 AM | The Archipelago

Car dealers in Batam, Riau Islands, have imported and marketed hundreds of completely built-up (CBU) cars despite the absence of import regulations, leaving the cars being held by

the local Customs and Excise Office.

An importer in Batam, PT GA, has recently received orders for 24 units of Wish, Harrier, Camry and Altise cars from Toyota.

The cars, sent to Batam through Singapore, arrived early this month, but due to the lack of regulation on these particular types of cars, the local Customs and Excise Office said they could not be released from the port’s warehouses.

Another importer experienced similar problems when it imported 60 units of VW Beetle cars at the end of last year.

“We don’t understand why the technical regulations are not made clear by the government. Our customers are really disappointed. On top of that, we have already paid for the cars,” PT GA Batam’s marketing manager Antoni told The Jakarta Post.

He said the market for luxury CBU cars in Batam was relatively good especially because they are cheaper compared to other places.

He said a Toyota Harrier, for example, cost only Rp 400 million a unit in Batam, which, along with neighboring Bintan and Karimun Islands, is a Free Trade Zone.

The same model of car sells for Rp 700 million in Jakarta thanks to value-added and luxury taxes

imposed on vehicles, electronics and liquor in the zone.

Separately, acting head of the Batam Customs and Excise Office Heru Setioko called on importers to wait until the office issued its technical direction for the import of CBU cars before importing.

“It’s not yet clear what form we have to use for CBU cars imported to Batam, as free trade in

Batam is provided for production activities and not for consumer goods,” Heru said.

Many have expressed concerns that opening up imports of CBU cars to Batam would create a chance for the smuggling of these cars to other parts of the country. This is mostly due to the limited number of consumers of this commodity.

Chairman of Commission II of the Batam municipal legislative council overseeing the economy, Yudi Kurnain, said that there was a chance that CBU cars imported to Batam would be sent to other potential markets, including Jakarta.

“It’s surprising that such cars are not seen on the streets of Batam,” Yudi said.

Yudi called on police, the Customs and Excise Office and the navy to tighten surveillance on the smuggling of luxury cars out of Batam.

He said a single smuggled car could cause hundreds of millions of rupiah in state losses due to unpaid taxes.

“The free trade zone is limited to industrial production activities, and not for consumption purposes. It’s completely wrong to have the concept benefit the consumer sector,” Yudi said.

Malaysian Woman caught Smuggling Drugs to Karimun Island

From Jakarta Post
01/20/2010
A Malaysian woman has been arrested for smuggling Ecstasy and crystal methamphetamine, locally known as shabu-shabu, worth Rp 5.5 billion (US$ 589,300) at the International Ferry Port in Karimun, Riau Island, an official said Wednesday.

Head of the port‘s Customs and Excise Office Nasar Salim said that officers had become suspicious of a purple bag belonging to 45-year-old Lim Chen Huat when it was passed through an X-ray machine shortly after she arrived from Kukup, Malaysia on Tuesday.

“We then found 10,112 Ecstasy tablets wrapped in 10 packages and two kilograms of crystal methamphetamine wrapped in two plastic bags,” Nasar told The Jakarta Post.

He added that she might be linked to an international syndicate as she had previously visited Karimun to ensure she could smuggle the drugs.

“We handed her over to the Karimun Resort Police for further investigation,” he said.