Batam hotel suspends workers after fires

Batam hotel suspends workers after fires

Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Batam, Riau

A four-star hotel on the industrial island of Batam, Riau
province -- which caught fire twice in one week earlier this
month -- has suspended more than 320 workers for four months,
after hoteliers urged authorities to close it.

The ill-fated Harmoni Hotel has promised to pay the suspended
workers and asked them to wait for the hotel to resume operations
in January.

Diana, a receptionist at the hotel, told The Jakarta Post on
Friday that she would seek a new job.

But, she said that the average salary at the hotel was higher
than Batam's minimum wage of Rp 555,000 (US$65.2) per month.
Additional service charges of Rp 700,000 meant that the take-
homepay amounted to Rp 1.2 million a month.

The hotel, built in 1993, has been cordoned off since Monday,
when its second floor was gutted leaving dozens of guests and
workers hospitalized due to smoke inhalation.

The previous fire broke out in the hotel's ninth floor
ballroom on Sept. 7, killing at least one Singaporean and three
Indonesians.

There was no indication that the hotel had been renovated
since the first fire.

Urmy Sungkar, who chairs the Batam branch of the Indonesian
Hotel and Restaurant Association, said that the fires had
negatively impacted on the island's tourist industry.

"These incidents are disappointing. When they (the Harmoni
Hotel's management) decided to reopen after the first fire, I
asked whether the hotel's fire protection system had been
checked. Apparently, the answer was no," he said on Tuesday.

The head of the Batam tourist office, Buralimar, backed the
call for the hotel's closure.

"I say that the Harmoni Hotel's management is not
professional. I ask that the hotel's operational permit be
reviewed," he said.

Barelang Police chief of detectives Adj. Comr. Susanto said on
Friday his office had set up a team to investigate whether the
hotel should be reopened.

"The team is examining the hotel, ranging from its electrical
wiring to the condition of the building and other facilities," he
added.

Harmoni Hotel general manager Angeline Loo said that her
company would abide by whatever decision was reached by the team
chaired by Barelang deputy police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Heru
Winarko.

Susanto said the police had summoned the Harmoni Hotel's
former owner, Karto, for questioning over the fires.

He said he would also question the hotel's current owner,
Pieter, who is currently undergoing medical treatment in
neighboring Singapore, some 20 kilometers from Batam.

Susanto did not rule out the possibility of naming the owners
as suspects.