Blast causes Rp 39b in losses

JAKARTA: A manager of the JW Marriott Hotel management testified at the South Jakarta District Court on Tuesday that last August's bomb at the hotel had caused the management to suffer Rp 39 billion (US$4.64 million) in losses.

Yuni Trinianingsih, general administration manager of PT Permata Birawa Sakti which operates the hotel, said the company spent the money to renovate the hotel, the Plaza Mutiara office building and Syailendra Apartments. The three buildings are located in the same compound.

"Insurance companies that we subscribed to declined to pay any compensation. Damages from terror attacks were not covered in the policy," she said.

Worse still, the occupancy rate of the three buildings dropped to 40 percent from a previous 80 percent.

"Most of our tenants are afraid that such terror acts will reoccur in the future. We have barely recovered from the tragedy," she said.

Yuni testified at a trial on defendant Muhammad Rais -- an alleged accomplice of two suspects in the blast Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohd. Top, both are Malaysian citizens and are still at large. Rais is believed to have introduced Asmar Latin Sani, the Marriott suicide bomber, to the two suspects.

Two other Marriott employees -- security guard Wahyudi and concierge Achmad Syarifudin -- also testified at the court, revealing the horrors experienced in the blast that killed 12 people and injured 147 others.

Presiding judge Johanes E. Binti adjourned the trial for March 11 to hear more witnesses. -- JP