Menparekraf Concerned Case Of Extortion Of Tourist Fast Track Service At Ngurah Rai Airport

Menparekraf Sandiaga Uno In Badung, Bali/PHOTO: Dafi-VOI

BADUNG - Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Salahudin Uno admitted that he was concerned about the alleged extortion of fast track services carried out by Immigration Class I Special TPI Ngurah Rai officers at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport.

"Of course we are concerned that this is contrary to the quality tourism we want to encourage," said Sandiaga, Thursday, November 16.

Sandiaga said that his party would coordinate with the Director General of Immigration and the ranks of law enforcement officials so that the law can be enforced because according to him, the concept of quality tourism is one of the things with a government that is clean and free from corruption.

"In the future, we will coordinate more to ensure, because this was not previously reported," he said.

Sandiaga said that usually, if there are actions that violate the law on criminal acts such as extortion cases, the information will quickly go viral on social media.

However, according to him, the case of extortion in the fast track at Bali Airport which has been going on for some time has not been properly mapped before the case was revealed by the ranks of the Bali High Prosecutor's Office.

"This is my promise to take firm action and we make sure that in the future we will not tolerate activities that tarnish the face of Bali, Indonesia, and all of our tourism," he said.

He explained that the extortion case was very detrimental to Bali tourism, which is currently experiencing post-pandemic recovery, especially starting next year Bali will apply a retribution fee of 10 US dollars for every foreign tourist entering Bali.

Sandiaga Uno believes that the Director General of Immigration also has the same commitment to present quality tourism, especially so that similar cases do not happen again.

"This Indonesia has become a reference rather than good tourism. Let's protect together the reputation of Indonesian tourism in the eyes of the world," concluded the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy.

The Bali High Prosecutor's Office has named an official at the Class I Immigration Office Special for TPI Ngurah Rai with the initials HS for the alleged illegal levies on the Priority Service Fast Track at Bali Airport.

Assistant for Special Crimes at the Bali Attorney General's Office, Dedy Kurniawan, explained that HS, who served as Head of the Examination Section I of the Special Class I Immigration Office of TPI Ngurah Rai, was named a suspect based on the suspect's determination letter Number: 1421/N.1.5/Fd.2/11/2023 dated November 15, 2023.

The determination is based on the results of an investigation conducted by the Bali Attorney General's Office Special Crime Investigation team which has obtained evidence in the form of witness statements, letter evidence, evidence, and evidence of clues.