Banten haj dormitory to be built in Curug

Banten haj dormitory to be built in Curug

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

The Tangerang regency administration has finalized its proposal
for the construction of the Banten provincial haj dormitory on an
11-hectare plot of land in Curug district, some 15 kilometers
southwest of the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

Tangerang regent Ismet Iskandar told The Jakarta Post on
Thursday that the proposal would be submitted to the Ministry for
Religious Affairs soon as his administration hoped to start
construction in January 2004.

"The ministry has said that it will provide most of the
funding for the construction, while the rest will be provided by
the regency administration and Banten administration," he
explained.

Ismet said that he had set up a team to estimate the funding
that would be needed. The administration has provided Rp 2.5
billion (US$294,118) out of this year's regency budget as a
reserve fund as the ministry is due to finance the construction.

The regency administration had studied three locations for the
dormitory at Curug, Sepatan and Pasar Kemis districts.

Ismet dismissed allegations of collusion between his
administration and the developers of Lippo Karawaci, who provided
the land for the dormitory, saying that his decision was made
based on the study.

"Curug is actually very strategic as it is only four
kilometers away from the airport but there is only 5 hectares of
land available and the quality of the groundwater is very bad,"
he said.

As for the site in Pasar Kemis, Ismet said that the district
was zoned for industrial use. Besides, at 10 kilometers away from
the airport, it was much too far away to be used as a dormitory
for haj pilgrims.

The regent's decision has been protested by ulemas in Sepatan
district.

"We are very disappointed with the regent's decision. The
location in Sepatan district is very strategic because it only
takes 10 minutes to reach the airport and there is no traffic
congestion at all," Abdul Musya, a noted ulema, told the Post.

Ismet said that the dormitory was being built to accommodate
haj pilgrims from all over Banten province.

"I hope the people in Sepatan will not resist the plan and
demand that the dormitory build in their area. This is in the
interests of all of us," he said.

Once the construction of the new dormitory is completed, haj
pilgrims from Banten province will no longer need to stay at the
Pondok Gede haj dormitory in East Jakarta prior to their
departure to Mecca.