Thousands of guides or tour guides are at risk of not being able to work back to their profession. This is because the One-Stop Integrated Licensing Service (PTSP) rejected the application for an extension of the Tourist Guide Identity Card (KTPP) from members of the HPI Bali DPD. This was conveyed by the Chairperson of the HPI Bali DPD, I Nyoman Nuarta, Thursday, 17th of July 2023.
He revealed that 70 members applied for an extension of the KTPP, but as many as 34 people were rejected for no apparent reason. Meanwhile, 46 tour guides were asked to have their submissions revised, without any clarity either.
This confused its members because it was feared that the other 7,000 guides would be similarly affected. Nuarta said, during the pandemic, there was a policy from the Governor of Bali so that competency certificates that died could be used to extend permits or KTPP.
However, since June 24 2023, when the President issued Presidential Decree 71 concerning changing the status of a pandemic to endemic, problems started to arise because the Governor of Bali’s policy was not valid. “From the Presidential Decree, it turns out that the PTSP Licensing Service immediately terminated the HPI Bali KTPP extension process. On the 5th, 70 of our members extended their permits, but 34 people were rejected and 46 revised,” he said.
According to him, the basis for the refusal was only a matter of presidential decree. While the Governor of Bali has yet to issue a decision on the elaboration of the Presidential Decree, PTSP prohibits uploading data to extend permits through its system without a clear basis.
With this incident, according to him, PTSP has violated state administration because there has been no governor’s decision but PTSP has prohibited the extension of permits.
“All requirements are rejected and prohibited, for this reason, we hope the Governor of Bali will pay attention to this problem because we are worried that our friends will take to the streets because they have only been working effectively since 8 months ago so from a financial standpoint they have not been able to meet their needs and obligations, ” he said.
The rejection of the extension of the KTPP application for members of the HPI Bali DPD caused 350 tour guides to be unable to carry out their activities because their permits had expired. Whereas if you are determined to violate it, you will become an illegal tour guide which is contrary to the good intentions of Regional Regulation 5 of 2020 concerning standards for implementing Balinese cultural tourism. The threat of punishment is 3 months in prison and a fine of nearly Rp. 50 million.
Meanwhile, to apply for an extension of the KTPP, HPI members must repeat the competency test from the beginning to obtain a competency certificate. Meanwhile, competency certificates that are obtained independently require a fee of between Rp. 800 thousand to Rp. 1 million.
If the Governor of Bali’s policies during this pandemic doesn’t apply, he hopes there will be subsidies from the government to provide certification to these guides in Bali.
Guides from the Spanish guiding division I.B. Made Suadnya said he only wanted to work legally to realize quality Bali tourism. “If we are complicated, how can we organize Bali tourism based on Balinese culture because the guides themselves find it difficult to apply for legality,” he said.
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