Entertainment spots sealed off

Entertainment spots sealed off

JAKARTA (JP): A gaming hall and a gambling den located on the
first and third floors of the six-story Prinsen Park building in
the Lokasari complex in West Jakarta were temporarily sealed off
by the city public order office on Sunday, an official said.

Tongam Tambunan, a senior official at the office, said on
Monday that the two spots were operating during hours prohibited
by the governor's circular on business hours for entertainment
spots during the month of Ramadhan.

"The places will be closed until further notice because their
management disobeyed the governor's instructions in the
circular," Tongam said.

Previously, the city public order office had also sealed off
four gaming halls in West and North Jakarta, Surya Jaya hotel in
Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta and Jalan Jalan cafe, a discotheque
in the Menara Imperium building, South Jakarta, for similar
reasons.

According to Tongam, the gambling den at the Prinsen Park
actually contained computerized "canoe" games, however, players
used the games for gambling, he said.

The Prinsen Park building also houses a hotel.

Asep Kusumadipura, the hotel's operations manager, said that
even though the 89-room hotel itself had nothing to do with the
entertainment spots, the closings could effect the hotel's
business.

"Right now, 60 percent of our rooms are occupied. We just hope
the closings do not seriously effect our business," Asep said.
(ylt)