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Ian Stewart

PRIME Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday a stiff increase in the cost of passports was aimed at reducing the number of Malaysians travelling abroad.

  The new fees, which came into effect on January 1, prompted an outcry from members of the public and consumer groups, who said they were unjustified.

  The Government raised the cost of a five-year 32-page passport by 140 per cent from M$60 (HK$180) to M$145. A 64-page passport costs M$265 compared with M$100.

  Renewal fees and charges for other travel documents, such as border passes for people living adjacent to Thailand or Indonesian Kalimantan, were also increased significantly.

  Travellers were also hit with a doubling of the airport tax for international flights from M$20 to M$40. The new rates were announced in the Budget.

  They were widely condemned as inconsistent with the Government's drive to keep prices down with a 'Zero Inflation' campaign.

  'If a government agency can raise its rates by more than 100 per cent what is there to stop others from doing so?' asked S. M. Mohamed Idris, president of the Consumer Association of Penang.

  The Perak Consumer Association said the increases were a 'mockery of the anti-inflation campaign'.

  Dr Mahathir said the Government had imposed the new fees after deciding that the number of Malaysians travelling abroad was too large.

  He said that 30 per cent of Malaysians travelled abroad compared with 10 per cent in Japan, with a larger population.

  'If they still want to go they will have to pay a little bit more,' he said. 'We cannot stop everyone but we can at least prevent some from applying for passports without any plan for travel.'   Dr Mahathir said people who felt insecure about not having a passport 'jammed up' the Immigration Department.

  He did not explain why people should be stopped from going overseas but the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, in his budget address, indicated the increase in airport tax was aimed at encouraging domestic travel.

  'It is a pity that Malaysians do not appreciate the beauty of their own country and travel domestically,' he said.

  The Deputy Home Minister, Megat Junid, said a reduction in the number of people travelling abroad would help lower the nation's current account deficit of M$18 billion.

  The president of the Federation of Malaysian Consumer Associations said that with the world becoming a global village it was 'not fair to restrict the movement of the people'.



Anger over massive rise in passport fees in bid to boost domestic travel