VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian visits Batam Island, Riau Islands Province, on April 15, 2022. (ANTARA/HO-Public Relations Division of Home Affairs Ministry/uyu) - 

Indonesian Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian quoted Singaporean authorities as saying that foreign tourists from the country had longed to travel to Riau Islands Province, Indonesia, after the two-year travel restrictions imposed due to COVID-19.

"They (Singaporean authorities) say that Singaporeans have missed to visit Batam Island and Bintan Island (located in Riau Islands Province) since the islands are close to Singapore," he stated here on Friday.

He had met the Singaporean home affairs minister and related authorities around two weeks back.

The minister assessed that the visit by Singaporean and Malaysian foreign tourists are crucial to support development of the tourism sector in Batam Island.

However, currently, Singaporean foreign tourists face several obstacles to visit Riau Islands, he noted.

One of the obstacles is the expensive fee of the PCR test in Singapore that can reach S$180, or around Rp1.8 million (US$124.73). Meanwhile, in Indonesia, the cost is only around Rp300 thousand (US$20.79)

In addition, only certain parties in Singapore are allowed to conduct PCR tests.

On the contrary, several public and private parties in Indonesia are allowed to provide COVID-19 test services. Hence, the attempt has facilitated the people to get tested.

Karnavian stated that to address the issues, the Indonesian government had held discussions with the Singaporean authorities.

"Hopefully, the mandatory conducting of the PCR test in Singapore would be switched to only getting the antigen test since it costs only around S$15 or Rp150 thousand (US$10.39)," he stated.

In addition, he assessed that Batam Island and Bintan Island are one of the areas that have lively tourism destinations apart from Bali Island, Lombok Island, and North Sulawesi Province.

Hence, if the local governments continue to develop the potentials, then it will benefit the Regional Original Revenues (PAD).

"The tourism attractions in Lagoi area, Bintan Island, contribute significantly to Bintan District’s PAD," the minister added//ANT