Muthuvel: Airfares too high

 By JEFFREY ELAPA

THE potential of tourism in the country is huge but certain factors are hindering its development, according to West New Britain Governor Sasindran Muthuvel.

He told parliament that domestic airfares were very expensive compared to fares from Port Moresby to Brisbane and Sydney, in Australia.

He said the domestic airfares discouraged budget travellers from visiting.

He said the rates for accommodation were as high as in any five-star hotel in the world.

He said even the K2,500 housing allowance for MPs was not enough to meet the high cost of rental in Port Moresby.

He urged Parliament to build affordable housing in Port Moresby for MPs from outside the city.

The other issue, he said, was the red tape in the issuance of visa at foreign diplomatic missions.

“We have a lot of bottleneck and bureaucratic attitude problem that affect visas as it takes a lot of time for visas to be approved,” he said.

“We have a lot of bureaucratic red tape and problems that can kill the tourism industry in the country as it takes so long to process the visas.”

Muthuvel said it was difficult to secure donations from foreign missions because the Foreign Affairs Department took too long to endorse projects.

For example, the Indian High Commission wants to donate vehicles including ambulances and police vehicles to WNB and assist the University of PNG but public servants at the Foreign Affairs Department are taking too long to have it processed, he said.

“The attitude of public servants is a problem. Do they really care? Slackness and the attitude of public servants are a real hindrance to service delivery,” he said.