Police Investigate Alleged Illegal Charges At Gunung Kidul Beach Tourism Object

Illustration of a beach tourist attraction. (Between)

GUNUNG KIDUL - The case of alleged illegal levies in the coastal tourist area of the Gunung Kidul region during the 2022 Eid al-Fitr holiday has received the attention of the local police. The police are currently investigating the case.

Kasatreskrim Gunung Kidul Police AKP Mahardian Dewo Negoro said the alleged extortion was revealed when the task force (satgas) of clean sweeping (saber) of illegal levies (pungli) conducted surveillance in the coastal area.

"Based on the results of the monitoring, we have ordered three parking attendants," said Mahardian in Gunung Kidul, quoted from Antara, Tuesday, May 10.

Allegations of extortion arose because the parking attendants were charging more than they should have. The tariff is increased between Rp. 2,000 and Rp. 3,000.00 per parked vehicle. Three people who were disciplined were arrested. However, when questioned and admitted to their actions, they were sent home.

"We are still investigating the findings. We are exploring how far the extortion is, whether personal or systematic," he said.

Mahardian said the action could harm many tourists, even if it was only a small difference. He hopes that the public will also report if they experience or know about the extortion.

"The increase in parking rates from the provisions is not much. However, it is very detrimental to tourists," he said.

Meanwhile, Head of the Gunung Kidul Transportation Service (Dishub) Rakhmadian Wijayanto admitted that he knew about the incident on Sunday, May 8. The location is in the Siung Beach area, Tepus.

Based on the information he received, the official ticket from the Gunung Kidul Transportation Agency was illegally duplicated by the parking attendant concerned.

The listed rate is changed to a higher one. There was a parking attendant who charged more than the stipulation, it should have been Rp. 8,000. In fact, Rp. 10,000 was withdrawn.

In accordance with local regulations (perda), special parking rates in tourist areas start from Rp. 3,000.00 for motorbikes, Rp. 5,000.00 for small cars, Rp. 8,000.00 for microbuses, and Rp. 10 thousand of small buses, and Rp. 15 thousand big buses.

"We leave the parking management to a third party, namely the local community as part of the empowerment. We regret if the extortion action was actually carried out," he said.