Hotel phones 'out of order'

All the telephone lines in the rooms used by SEA Games athletes at Hotel Mulia have been disconnected upon orders from the hotel's development project, Antara said yesterday.

There are just too many athletes to handle if they all have unlimited access to telephone from their rooms, Joko Chandra, the head of the project, was quoted by Antara as saying.

"Who's going to pay the bills if athletes make long distance calls from their rooms," he asked. The organizers could not ask the delegation chiefs to pay all the bills, he added.

The organizers however have set up around 40 pay phones within the hotel's vicinity for the athletes' convenience, he said.

Excepted from this policy are the rooms occupied by the heads of the contingent and VIP guests.