Jakarta. Tourism Minister Sandiaga Uno recently voiced his concerns over the highly overpriced illegal parking at Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta. 

Illegal parking is still rampant at Southeast Asia’s largest mosque. A video of a visitor being forced to pay a whopping Rp 150,000 (around $9.33) by illegal parking attendants in front of the mosque recently went viral on social media. Some drivers even admitted that they had to pay high tariffs to these unofficial parking attendants on Sunday.

Sandiaga said that Jakarta’s transportation agency should take action following the incident. He added he would also coordinate with law enforcement agencies to prevent illegal fee collection from taking place to save Indonesia’s religious tourism.

“We keep on seeing this illegal fee collection taking place. We have spoken with Jakarta’s transportation agency to make sure that they take action [against the illegal parking attendants],” Sandiaga said in Jakarta over the weekend.

The Istiqlal is right across from the Jakarta Cathedral. According to Sandiaga, Jakarta is currently trying to push these two places of worship -- which are often heralded as Indonesia’s symbol of religious tolerance -- as destinations for religious tourism.

The government is seeking to record between 1.25 billion and 1.5 billion trips by domestic tourists throughout 2024. The year’s target for international travelers is set at 17 million foreign tourist arrivals.

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