Shillong, Aug 29: The government-constituted committee to look into the demands of tourist taxi associations has made several suggestions including subsidising parking fees at LGBI Airport at Guwahati.
Informing this Commissioner & Secretary in-charge Tourism Cyril Diengdoh has urged the associations to raise any other issues and the government will discuss them accordingly.
The official’s statement came after a recent protest staged by the All Khasi Meghalaya Tourist Taxi Association (AKMTA) demanding the government to restrict tourist taxis from outside the state from operating in tourist spots across the state.
Referring to the multiple meetings held with the associations in this regard, he said the issues require further consultation with all stakeholders such as hoteliers and others.
“This committee has met multiple times and the minutes have also been shared with these associations,” he said.
“We have made certain suggestions for example including subsidising their parking fees in Guwahati Airport as that was one of the demands because they say it was too high,” he added.
Informing that the Tourism department is looking into the matter, he said decision will be taken on the issue and other relevant matters accordingly.
Asked about any chance of backlash in neighbouring states if the associations’ demand is fulfilled, he said these things have to be looked at from all perspectives since there are multiple issues involved and there are multiple stakeholders involved.
“So whatever decision has to be taken one has to be very careful, measure it and look at the impact that it can have and therefore, the committee has looked at multiple ways in which we can address these issues and discuss in detail why is it difficult to implement some of the suggestions,” he stated.
