Hotel Mulia 'must scrap second tower'

JAKARTA (JP): A city councilor urged the management of Hotel Mulia Senayan to scrap its plan to erect a second tower because the hotel already violated the authorized land use.

Lukman Mokoginta, the chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Party faction, said the four-hectare lot was a designated green area not a commercial site.

"That's why I've always opposed the project, not just the proposed second tower but also the first tower, the hotel itself, which has already been constructed," he said.

Lukman was responding to remarks made by a representative of the hotel's management, Enggartiasto Lukita, who said the second tower would probably be delayed because of the ongoing monetary crisis.

The property, located next to the Senayan shooting range, was earmarked for the Jakarta Country Club by the Gelora Senayan Management Board.

The club later joined the privately owned Mulia Group to build a hotel as accommodation for some 1,800 athletes participating in the 19th SEA Games.

The hotel was widely criticized when the municipality learned that the first tower had violated its high-rise building permit.

Instead of erecting a 16-story building, the management turned it into a 40-story hotel. The hotel's management must pay a fine to the city administration for the breach.

Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Hayono Isman said, after an informal meeting with Governor Sutiyoso and Enggartiasto on Tuesday, that the administration would fine the hotel's management Rp 92.8 billion (US$28.55 million) -- not Rp 98 billion as earlier reported -- if it went ahead with the second tower.

According to city bylaw No. 4, issued in 1975 for high-rise buildings, violators may face a maximum penalty of six months in jail or a Rp 50,000 fine.

Lukman also suggested that the management build sidewalks in front of the hotel which is currently used as a garden.

"Sidewalks are a public necessity," he said. "That's why the management should turn the garden into a public sidewalk." (05)