SANDAKAN: Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Raymond Tan Shu Kiah has claimed that DAP Sabah chairman Stephen Wong did not say a word to oppose the passing of the Tourism Tax Bill when it was tabled on April 6.
Raymond, who is also Minister of Industrial Development cum Tanjung Papat assemblyman, said Wong should not lie to the people by saying he had fought very hard to stop the Bill when in fact the record showed that he did not say anything on that day.
“I have checked the record and he was not there! He did not say anything on that day. The only DAP MP that opposed the tax was the one from Penang. They were talking about tourism industry in Penang,” he said when commenting on Wong’s statement that DAP MPs had fought very hard in Parliament to stop the Bill and safeguard Sabahans’ benefits’. .
“No DAP members talked about tourism sector in Sabah or Sandakan that day. So what is he talking about (fought very hard)? He did not fight for anything,” Raymond said, adding that he was surprised by Wong’s statement two months after the Bill was tabled.
He said the state government was communicating with the federal government to discuss the effects of the tax in a wider context.
He stressed that the state government was as serious as the government of Sarawak in coming out with a win-win solution.
He said the state government would try to discuss with the federal government to look at the tax from more than just one aspect — collecting revenue for the country.
“With the security situation in Sandakan (only beginning to recover), we are making it clear to the federal government that in improving the tourism sector here, the tourism tax has to be taken into account. There are many aspects (of the tax) that we need to look into before implementing it,” he said.
Raymond said it was not fair to say the Barisan Nasional government did not care (about tourism industry in Sabah). The government is already working to build up the tourism sector in Sandakan.
He said the government had approved to lengthen the airport here so that wide-body craft could land, increasing the percentage of tourists, especially those from China, to stay in Sandakan.
He added that the cancellation of the Sukau Bridge development was also a way of protecting the ecotourism here.