Awaiting the execution of Hotel Mulia

The Hotel Mulia Senayan, which has been embroiled in a host of controversies since the first phase of its construction, has again come in to the limelight. This time it is about the verdict passed by the Central Jakarta district court, which rules that the hotel must be seized by the state if its management fails to pay about Rp 15 billion to the government as ordered by the Supreme Court.

This hotel has become a controversy because of alleged corruption, collusion and nepotism. The land on which the hotel now stands used to belong to the Senayan Management Board. Later, God knows how, the use of the land was transferred to a company close to the Soeharto family. Then they built a hotel and enjoyed a lot of concessions as it was said that the hotel would be intended for athletes taking part in SEA Games XIX in 1997, despite the presence in this area of some other hotels such as the Hilton and the Century Park.

One of the concessions given was the permit to build 40 floors for Rp 20 billion in compensation to the Jakarta administration. In fact, the city administration has stipulated that in this area the highest building must have only a maximum of 16 floors. Also, various goods needed for the hotel were believed to have been given tax concessions or exemptions. Nobody dared to raise a protest because the Soeharto regime was still in power.

Now that the regime has changed, Mulia management is still unwilling to pay the fine imposed on them. The Jakarta administration has gone through a number of legal processes in this respect and finally in December 2001, the Supreme Court ruled by virtue of its decision No. 3255 K/Pdt/2001 that the hotel management must pay Rp 15,139,070,469 at once and in cash.

It seems that the management of the hotel still enjoys strong backing, from the Soeharto family, some political parties and retired generals. That's why they have refused to pay the fine. Then, of course, the Jakarta administration has asked the Central Jakarta district court to back them in their bid to recover the money or seize the hotel.

-- Warta Kota, Jakarta