Court to confiscate Hotel Mulia for failure to pay Rp 15b fine
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.