KOTA KINABALU: Those tourist guides who were involved in the protest at Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) on July 15 have been ordered to present their explanation letter to the Tourism and Culture Ministry (Motac) Sabah State Office within a week.
Motac Sabah director Ag Ahmad Zaki Abu Bakar said the tourist guides would have their licence revoked forever if they were found to be in the wrong.
“I am going to give them a week till the deadline on next Tuesday to come to this (Motac) office to give their statements individually as to why they violated the Tourism Industry Act 1992 and code of ethics. We have pictures of them and since we work closely with tourist guides, they cannot run away.
“I am giving them ample time to defend themselves,” he said at a press conference here yesterday.
However, he said action would still be taken whether the protesters have submitted their explanation letters or not because the tourist guides have jeopardized the whole industry due to their actions.
Ahmad Zaki said Motac had also called Grace Leong, who has stepped down as the president of Sabah Tourist Guides Association (SGTA) on this matter but had yet to record her statement.
As for the consequences of staging the protest, Ahmad Zaki said he would meet with the State Government and state agency to decide on the next course of action.
Nonetheless, he affirmed that the tourist guides would be facing cancellation of their licences.
“If found to be guilty, we will revoke their licence forever,” Ahmad Zaki promised.
About 40 protesters showed up at KKIA just past midnight on July 15, claiming that the tour company had engaged illegal tour guides in their operations. The protest led to two of the three licenced local tourist guides fleeing the scene, leaving their big group of tourists stranded at the airport for about two hours.