Hotel Mulia 'must keep commitments'

JAKARTA (JP): State Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Agung Laksono has urged the management of Hotel Mulia Senayan to honor their commitment to provide athletes with affordable accommodation.

Commenting on a complaint made by the Badminton Association of Indonesia over the hotel's expensive room rate, Agung asked the management of the five-star hotel to offer reasonable prices and to quote them in rupiah.

"Because we no longer have an athletes village, hotels in the Senayan sports complex should offer cheap rates for athletes. They must not forget their responsibility to help develop sports in the country," Agung said on Thursday.

Hotel Mulia has offered the organizers of the Indonesia Open badminton championship a nightly room rate of US$45, including three meals a day. The nearby Atlet Century Park has offered a rate of Rp 300,000 per night.

However, the association has opted for Hotel Indonesia in the city center, which has quoted nightly rates ranging between Rp 192,000 and Rp 306,000.

The annual tournament will be held at the Senayan Indoor Stadium from Oct. 28 to Nov. 1.

"The badminton association is a wealthy organization. If they can't afford to cover the room rate, what about the other organizations," said Agung, who is also deputy chairman of the Senayan management board.

Hotel Mulia was built in 1996 to accommodate participants in the 1997 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

The construction of the 40-story building sparked controversy. It violated height restrictions in the area, lacks green areas, obstructed public thoroughfares and caused traffic congestion along nearby roads.

Speaking separately, the board's executive director, Yasidi Hambali, said he shared Agung's view.

"The hotel must help to accommodate athletes. We will ask the National Sports Council to select which sports events are given lodging facilities at the hotel," he said.

He said the board was currently renegotiating the terms of its contract with the hotel's operator, PT Jakarta Country Club (JCC). PT JCC's is owned by the Mulia Group, of which Joko S. Tjandra is chairman.

The hotel was developed on a build, operate and transfer basis. When the operating period specified in the contract comes to an end, ownership of the hotel will be transferred to the management board.

Yasidi also said the management board must be given some shares in the hotel.

Under the terms of the contract, the hotel operator must pay royalties to the management board. JCC currently pays an annual royalty of Rp 90 million (US$36,000), a sum calculated using the pre-crisis exchange rate of Rp 2,500 against the U.S. dollar.

"The royalty payment is being renegotiated," Yasidi said.

He also said the hotel's management must pay compensation for the ill effects the construction of the building has had on the surrounding area. The adjacent shooting range has become prone to flooding since the hotel was constructed.

"We won't allow sports venues to become of secondary importance to business interests. On the contrary, we want the hotel to renovate nearby sports venues, including the shooting range, the badminton courts and the indoor volleyball courts," he said.

JCC plans to build a second 56-story tower consisting of apartments and a shopping mall adjacent to the existing hotel. (yan)