NTT Sought Bigger Komodo Role, but No Revenue-Sharing Deal Is Confirmed
NTT officials in 2018 sought a bigger role in Komodo National Park management and a share of tourism income, but the park’s receipts remained state revenue and no formal sharing mechanism is confirmed in the records reviewed.
Editor: Mursyid Sonsang
· 3 min read
Labuan Bajo — East Nusa Tenggara officials in 2018 pressed for a provincial role in managing Komodo National Park and for a share of the park’s tourism income, but no formal revenue-sharing mechanism is identified in the records reviewed.
On 2 November 2018, then-NTT tourism chief Marius Ardu Jelamu said Governor Viktor Bungtilu Laiskodat wanted the provincial government involved in managing the park in West Manggarai Regency, according to a report published by local media outlet Valid News. The report said the park was administered by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry through the Komodo National Park Office.
Jelamu said the province was looking for a forum involving the provincial government, Manggarai Barat Regency and the central government to discuss management authority and revenue sharing, but he did not identify a statute, regulation or agreement that would establish such an arrangement, according to the same report.
Park revenue and state receipts
The park’s revenue from tourism had already become a major state earner by 2017. A 2018 report by Bisnis, citing the Komodo National Park office, said park tourism receipts reached Rp27 billion in 2017, up from around Rp22 billion the previous year.
An academic paper hosted by Diponegoro University later cited Komodo National Park PNBP of Rp29.1 billion in 2017 and Rp33.16 billion in 2018, showing the park’s receipts continued to rise. A separate Tempo report also said the park recorded revenue of Rp32 billion in 2018.
Those receipts are treated as pendapatan negara bukan pajak, or non-tax state revenue, and are paid into the state treasury rather than booked automatically as local government income, according to the BPK-hosted document from East Nusa Tenggara and the other reporting reviewed.
Local government role remains limited
The BPK-hosted document, which reproduces reporting by Floresa, says Manggarai Barat stopped receiving income from visitor charges at Komodo National Park in 2023 after a recommendation from the Audit Board of Indonesia. It says all ticket and tourism-related receipts were directed to the Komodo National Park Office under the forestry ministry.
The same document says park PNBP reached more than Rp53 billion in 2024 on 334,206 domestic and international visits, while Manggarai Barat’s tourism income that year was Rp2.6 billion from destinations outside the national park. It also says the regency received Rp8.7 billion from Komodo visitor charges in 2022.
The document quotes Manggarai Barat tourism chief Stefanus Jemsifori as saying the regency continues to provide services and infrastructure for communities inside the park area, including education, training, roads, toilets and homestay support, while park income does not enter the local government’s accounts.
What the record shows is a long-running tension between the park’s national status, its strong tourism revenue and local demands for a bigger role in both management and benefits. The documents reviewed do not show any confirmed legal revenue-sharing arrangement in force in 2018 or later.
Sources
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