On 5th April 2020, Datuk Onn Hafiz Bin Ghazi, the State Tourism, Youth and Sports Committee chairman in a meeting with Johor City and Nature Tour Guide Association (JCNTGA) had reiterated the importance in ensuring all licensed tourist guides in Johor are properly assisted to register online to claim monetary allocations under Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (BPN), One-Off Payment for Tourist Guides and i-Lestari (KWSP) under LHDN provided by the Federal Government as announced by the Prime Minister Tan Sri Dato Haji Muhyiddin Yassin on 27th March 2020.
Johor’s licensed tourist guides, being the key frontliners of Johor tourism industry has been heavily affected by this pandemic affecting the whole world including Malaysia. According to Abdul Rashid Bin Narikkodan Mammod, the Chairman of JCNTGA, the total number of licensed tourist guides under the Ministry Of Tourism and Culture (MOTAC) in Johor comprises of 1,258 people.
Tourism Johor has been guiding JCNTGA in regards to online registration and producing tutorial videos for BPN, One-Off Payment for Tourist Guides under MOTAC and i-Lestari under the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) for qualified tourist guides and have assisted in distributing basic necessities to affected tourist guides through district offices in Johor.
All of Johor’s licensed tourist guides are eligible for a maximum of RM1,600 under Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (BPN), RM600 One-Off Payment for Tourist Guides under MOTAC and a maximum of RM500 monthly under i-Lestari.
“Johor City and Nature Tour Guide Association would like to commend the office of State Tourism, Datuk Onn Hafiz Bin Ghazi, the Youth and Sports Committee chairman, and Tourism Johor for all their efforts in assisting us to reduce the burden currently faced by all tourist guides in Johor. We hope to be able to further cooperate with the State Government in the near future,” said Abdul Rashid.
