KUALA LUMPUR, June 13 — The argument between a federal and Sarawak minister over a new tourism tax will not damage the relationship between Putrajaya and Kuching, said Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan today.
The minister in the Prime Minister’s Department also categorised the exchange between Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz and Sarawak counterpart Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah as good-natured ribbing.
“Not at all. It’s just one of those little brother-big brother spat,” he told reporters.
Abdul Rahman said he believed the dispute arose because the legislation on the tourism tax was not clearly communicated to the individual states, leading to confusion.
He also said Karim was simply giving his opinions on the matter as a representative of the Sarawak administration.
The minister then reiterated that his Cabinet colleague could have handled the matter better, before saying today that Nazri went “a little bit overboard”.
The federal minister previously mocked his Sarawak counterpart’s experience as a minister and warned the latter not to behave “like a gangster” over the matter. Nazri also rejected criticism against him over his remarks about Karim.
However, Abdul Rahman believed the matter to be resolved and unlikely to be broached during tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting.
Abdul Rahman, who oversees the Economic Planning Unit, today repeated his support of the tourism tax, saying it was not burdensome and would be beneficial.
“Remember, this is a good law, I personally believe that the tourism tax is necessary and to expand our revenue base, and also to help the tourism industry which has been experiencing budget cuts due to falling revenue of the government,” the Kota Belud MP said.
Abdul Karim previously urged Putrajaya to defer the July 1 implementation of the new tax for Sabah and Sarawak, saying the federal government should respect the Malaysia Agreement 1963 when deciding such matters.
The tax will be introduced on July 1 at a rate of between RM2.5 and RM25 per room right at hotels in the country.
