'Bang' Ali clarifies<\/p>\n
From Forum Keadilan<\/p>\n
I have an objection to a news item published in Forum No. 16
\nof the weekly newsmagazine, Forum Keadilan. On page 54, column 3
\nit said, \"Indeed, Senayan is not a mere national asset, but also
\nhas historical value. The complex was built during the time of
\npresident Sukarno as a venue for the 1962 Asian Games. During the
\nNew Order period, the area began to fragment. In 1971, Jakarta
\ngovernor Ali Sadikin, for example, allowed PT Indobuildco to
\nbuild the Jakarta Hilton Hotel close to the Semanggi Bridge...\"<\/p>\n
My objection is to what was quoted above because upon reading
\nit, one may get the impression that I was also one of those
\nfragmenting the Senayan area. In fact, while I was the Jakarta
\ngovernor, I was assigned to organize facilities for a congress of
\nthe PATA Asia-Pacific Conference. For this purpose, I had to
\nprovide accommodation for about 2,000 to 3,000 people and a
\nconvention hall for a larger number. In my opinion, the best
\nplace for this was Senayan. But then where would the convention
\nbe? Where would the hotel be? Finally, a site on the corner of
\nthe Senayan area was chosen for the hotel. This hotel was to
\naccommodate foreign guests. Domestic delegates could be
\naccommodated at other hotels. It would be cheaper this way. The
\nHilton Hotel was designated only for foreign delegates. This
\nprinciple was also adopted when the Non-Aligned Summit was held
\nhere several years ago.<\/p>\n
To build the hotel, I requested help from Pertamina. My reason
\nwas that Pertamina had many subsidiaries, including one dealing
\nin the hotel business, namely Patra Jasa, which operated in
\nCirebon and Bali. As a subsidiary of Pertamina, Patra Jasa was
\nalso a state company. So, I contacted Ibnu Sutowo and asked him
\nto help. \"Help us. This is a national project. You can have a
\nhotel built.\"<\/p>\n
What was in my mind then was that Pertamina would assign Patra
\nJasa to build the hotel, so it would be owned by the state. The
\nland was owned by the state also and when I officially sold it I
\ngave away a great concession indeed. So back then, I thought that
\nthe state's facilities would still be controlled by the state.<\/p>\n
After the hotel was built, it suddenly became the property of
\nIndobuildco. I did not learn about it until after it became
\nIndobuildco's property.<\/p>\n
What I cannot understand about the report in Forum is that it
\ngives the impression that I was committing corruption, collusion
\nand nepotism. The report fails to mention anything about
\nPertamina. It wrote that I gave an opportunity to PT Indobuildco.
\nIn fact, I did not know anything about Indobuildco until the
\nbuilding of the hotel was completed. Therefore, I cannot accept
\nthis part of the report. In fact, I asked Pertamina to build the
\nhotel. I never gave any opportunity to Indobuildco to build the
\nhotel. To learn later on that Pertamina belonged to Indobuildco
\nwas not of my knowledge. Neither did I know if the contractor who
\nbuilt the hotel got money from Pertamina or Indobuildco.<\/p>\n
ALI SADIKIN<\/p>\n
Former Jakarta governor<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bang-ali-clarifies-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }