Bintan welcomes Indonesians

I am replying to Mrs. Dorcas M. Polnaya's letter entitled "Can't Indonesians enjoy own country?" which appeared in your Sept. 29 edition.

We thank Mrs. Polnaya for her interest in wanting to visit our fine resorts and assure her that next time around it will be more pleasant when the following improvements have been made. PT Bintan Resorts Corporation (BRC) is in the process of working with hotel and resort operators on special packages for all Indonesian domiciles to visit and stay in our resorts.

Although there is currently a speedboat service from Telaga Punggur Terminal in Batam to Bandar Bentan Telani (BBT) in Bintan Resorts, we intend to improve this service by allocating better, faster and more luxurious speedboats to this route. Furthermore, we are actively discussing starting a ferry service between Nongsa, Batam and BBT in Bintan with a Batam-based ferry company that currently runs between Batam, Singapore and Tanjung Pinang. This will serve all arrivals at Hang Nadim Airport.

I also wish to assure Mrs. Polnaya that the currency in use here is the rupiah. However, because we frequently receive Singaporean and other international visitors, hotels, resorts and retail outlets also quote their prices in Singapore dollars. The rupiah is nevertheless legal tender and can be used to settle all bills.

We in Bintan are fully aware that we are part of Indonesia. Although far away, we participated in full in the recent "Let's go Indonesia" promotion and other promotional events. Despite our own financial difficulties, we have also recently launched various charitable and community development programs to help our Bintan brethren who have been badly affected by the monetary crisis. So please be reassured that all Indonesians are welcome to visit and enjoy this part of Indonesia. Hopefully, with the above improvements, we will be able to make their visits easier and their stays more comfortable.

FRED TAN IM KIAN

Asst. Director

Investment Service

Bintan Resort Corporation