GEORGE TOWN: Operators of several guest houses here staged a protest against the DAP-led state government today over hefty operating license fees which they are unable to pay.

Some 20 operators with businesses in the heritage enclave here held placards as they chanted

“Save the guest houses” outside a hotel in Lebuh Farquhar to seek help from the Federal government to solve the matter.

Their spokesman, Ong Hock Soon, 38, said the group represented some 200 operators who were tenants of pre-war houses in the inner city.

He hit out at Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for not addressing the possibility of their losing their livelihood, as guest house licenses are set to expire at the end of this month.

Ong said he had submitted a memorandum to Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, who was in Penang to officiate the 4th World Tourism Conference which attracted 733 participants from 32 countries, to voice his group’s grievances after he claimed that the state government had done nothing to resolve their plight.

“Our temporary operating license renewal will cost us at least RM200,000 and we certainly cannot afford to pay that big a sum.

“We have requested the state government to lower the fee, but there has been no response. Our hope is fading fast and I wish Nazri, as a federal minister, would be able to help us.

“We are just guest house operators, not hotel businesses, and our aim is to lower the fees – but discussions with the local council have not made any headway,” Ong said, adding that as it is, with the current license fees, they cannot make ends meet.

Earlier, in a press conference, Nazri was asked to comment on the protest by the guest house operators. He urged them to toe the line first and wait to get their request approved.

“The operators must comply with the requirements set by the local authority.

“The federal and local governments will help them in every possible way, but they must adhere to the conditions set by the city council,” Nazri said.-nst