Court to confiscate Hotel Mulia for failure to pay Rp 15b fine
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Hotel Mulia Senayan has no other choice but to pay its Rp 15 billion debt to the city administration next week, otherwise the Central Jakarta District Court will seize it and sell it at auction.
The hotel, located on Jl. Asia Afrika, Central Jakarta, will be seized by the court, as stated in its decision dated May 31.
"The hotel will be seized next week if the company fails to pay the debt," court chief Mohammad Saleh told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
"The hotel will be sold at auction and the city administration will receive Rp 15 billion from the sale," he added.
He said that the court's decision was final and could not be challenged by the hotel. It would not be altered even if the hotel sought judicial review from the Supreme Court.
The five-star hotel was developed and is owned by PT Jakarta Country Club, which is under the control of businessman Djoko S. Tjandra. It was a subsidiary of the Mulia Group and also a part of the 1997 SEA Games consortium, chaired by former president Soeharto's son Bambang Trihatmodjo. Construction of the US$240 million hotel was completed in 10 months and was officially opened by Soeharto in September 1997.
The facility was used to accommodate athletes competing in the 19th Southeast Asian Games held in October of that year.
In 1998, the administration sued the developer at the Central Jakarta District Court for violating its building permit by constructing a 40-story hotel, instead of 16 stories as mentioned in the permit. The administration demanded that the company pay a Rp 15 billion fine for the violation.
The district court, however, rejected the suit. The Jakarta High Court also ruled in favor of the developer.
But in December of last year, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the administration by overturning the district court's decision.
Earlier this year, the developer paid a Rp 250 million installment of the fine, but has not yet paid the remainder.
Separately, city legal office chief Sukma Nelly confirmed on Wednesday that her office had received the district court's decision on Tuesday.
"The hotel owner was earlier warned three times by the district court. But, as of now, the owner has still refused to pay," Sukma told reporters at City Hall.
She called upon the hotel's employees not to worry because the hotel could still operate, even after it had been seized by the court.
The hotel Public Relations Manager Ratna Sjamsiar Idris refused to comment on the case, saying that it was being handled by the hotel owner.
"Our duties are related to the operations of the hotel, not legal matters. We only found out about the court's decision from journalists," Ratna told the Post.
The hotel attracted public attention when its presidential suite was reportedly used in 1999 for a meeting organized by Djoko Tjandra and attended by, among others, former Bank Bali director Rudy Ramli, former minister of investment and state enterprises and development Tanri Abeng, former chairman of the Supreme Council A.A. Baramuli and Golkar treasurer and businessman Setya Novanto.
Djoko, through his company PT Era Giat Prima, acted as a broker to claim Bank Bali's credit, worth Rp 900 billion, from the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency.
Djoko was tried on corruption charges at the South Jakarta District Court but was freed.
In the same case, the Central Jakarta District Court sentenced Bank Indonesia Governor Sjahril Sabirin to three years in jail. He has yet to be jailed as he appealed against the decision.