KUCHING: Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah will be meeting Kuching North City Commission (DBKU) soon to discuss the imposition of extra rates when organising events in the city.
He revealed this when met by reporters at the 5th Ponggal Harvest Festival held at Kuching Waterfront yesterday.
Earlier in his speech, Karim stated that DBKU had been charging extra rates for events organised at the waterfront.
“Recently, it even billed us for the maintenance of the stalls when the stalls are supposed to be under their responsibility.
“Thus, I need to sit down with DBKU to thrash out a lot of things because if you keep on being repressive and imposing a lot of rates, how are you going to make Kuching a nice place?” he questioned.
Karim explained that the meeting would be a platform for the two parties to sort things out.
He pointed out the charges imposed by DBKU must be reasonable to promote the state and the city.
“Personally, I feel that when we want to promote the state and the city, there are costs we have to bear but they must be reasonable.
“This is not the time for everyone to make money. It’s a time for us to be proud of our heritage and historic sites,” he said.
Karim, who is also the Youth and Sports Minister, suggested that DBKU adopt the same system undertaken by Sibu Municipal Council (SMC).
“In Sibu, whenever there is a government function, there will be a different rate. If it is a private function, then the charge is different.”
