Hotel Mulia told to pay Rp 20b fine for violations

JAKARTA (JP): City councilors urged the city administration yesterday to order management of Hotel Mulia to pay forthwith the Rp 20.5 billion penalty owed for violations of spatial permits.

Council speaker Edy Waluyo demanded the administration push the five-star hotel's management to fulfill its obligation.

"The administration can take legal action against the management if they do not fulfill their promise," he said.

Ali Wongso Sinaga, head of Commission D for development affairs, concurred with Edy, saying that the administration must require payment without delay.

"Set a deadline for them. If they are not able to pay the fine at once, I suggest they should pay in installments."

He said the amount of the penalty could jump to Rp 98 billion if the management continued with its plan to build a second tower to join the existing 40-story tower on Jl. Asia-Afrika, South Jakarta.

The management and contractor of the hotel, the Mulia Group, was fined last year for violating 1975 bylaw No. 4 on high-rise buildings and 1985 bylaw No. 9 on building height regulation.

Based on the block plan approved for the hotel project, jointly signed by then Jakarta governor Surjadi Soedirja and former state secretary/minister Moerdiono, the owners were allowed to construct a 16-story structure. They proceeded with construction of the 40-story tower.

Surjadi at first warned the group over the latter's violation of regulations, but subsequently backtracked by letting the management continue with construction on the grounds the hotel was needed as accommodation for the 19th Southeast Asian Games held in September last year.

Round-the-clock construction ensured completion of the tower before the Games' opening.

Achmad Suaidy, the head of the United Development Party faction, reiterated yesterday that the hotel management should not try to stall on paying up.

"The penalty must be paid without delay," he said.

Suaidy poured scorn on the management for willfully violating the building permits due to what he termed unsavory business practices.

"The management could go on with their hotel plan without any hassle because it was made through the "K3N" (collusion, corruption, cronyism and nepotism) practices."

Ali said the hotel was built on a plot originally owned by the Gelora Senayan Management Board and earmarked as a green area.

"The area was actually allocated for some public and sports facilities. Now, please tell me whether a deluxe hotel like that is a public facility?" he said.

He said the board entrusted the contract to construct the facility to the Jakarta Country Club.

Former president Soeharto's second eldest son Bambang Trihatmodjo was the chief commissioner of the club. Bambang was also a member of the consortium which handled the SEA Games' fund-raising activities.

Mulia Group representative Enggartiasto Lukita explained last year that the club had entirely financed the construction of the hotel. "The club was given a contract by the Gelora Senayan Management Board to build and operate the hotel."

Enggartiasto admitted that the group was officially asked by the head of the Indonesian Sports Council, Wismoyo Arismunandar, to build the hotel through an official instruction dated Nov. 1, 1996.

He said the hotel was built in line with the central government's idea of having a hotel near the Senayan sports range where all athletes would compete in the SEA Games.

The 1,008-room hotel was opened by Soeharto just before the athletes arrived for the Games. It boasts a grand ballroom, 10 meeting rooms, 11 rental business suites, an outdoor pool, jogging track and health center and several restaurants. There has been no definitive decision on planned construction of the second 56-story tower. (ind/cst)