Business as usual at Tanamur, Cafe Batavia

Business as usual at Tanamur, Cafe Batavia

JAKARTA (JP): Well known night spots Tanamur and Cafe Batavia
have resumed normal operations.

A.F. Lapian, head of the City Law and Order Office announced
on Monday that the city administration had temporarily closed
down Tanamur, a discotheque in the Gambir district of Central
Jakarta, because the establishment was believed to have been used
as a venue for transactions involving prohibited drugs.

Cafe Batavia restaurant, on Jl. Pintu Besar Utara, West
Jakarta, which was mistakenly identified by city administration
officials as a discotheque, was also closed for remaining open
after 2 a.m. on Monday.

However, an executive of Tanamur, who requested anonymity,
told The Jakarta Post yesterday that the closure order had been
revoked soon after being imposed on Monday, after Tanamur's
management cleared up a misunderstanding about an alleged drug
transaction.

"We explained that the problem began when Tanamur security
guards caught a drunken visitor holding drugs. The drunken person
was handed over to the police," the executive said.

But instead of receiving praise for its actions, the
discotheque was accused by a special city administration team,
which had launched an operation that morning, of being an arena
for drug transactions, he said.

The team is made up of representatives from a number of
institutions, including the City Tourism Office, the City Law and
Order Office and the City Police.

Graham James of Cafe Batavia said that his restaurant was
never closed down because the closure order went to the wrong
address.

"Cafe Batavia is a restaurant, not a discotheque," he said. As
a restaurant, it is allowed to operate 24 hours a day, he added.

Members of the special team did disable the restaurant's sound
equipment on Monday morning, but they allowed it to recommence
normal operations yesterday.

The city administration is currently intensifying its
supervision of discotheques throughout the city after receiving
reports that some of the establishments were used by drug
dealers. (hhr)