JP/3/GRAHA/0

City Council demands hotel preservation

JAKARTA (JP): The City Council has asked the Jakarta administration not to sell the state-owned Graha Wisata Mahasiswa building in Kuningan, South Jakarta.

"Although it is deserted and looks dreary compared to other buildings in the neighborhood, it should be maintained," said vice-chairman Fatommy Assary who visited the building on Thursday.

According to Fatommy, the municipality should renovate the building and make a managerial adjustment.

Graha Wisata Mahasiswa, literally the house of visiting students, was built in 1976 to be a hostel for both local and foreign students touring Jakarta. It has currently 58 rooms with 244 beds.

Councilor Romulus Sihombing, however, blasted the management for failing to keep the building clean, saying that the Jakarta administration has subsidized the management of the building for years.

Romulus noted that the management should run the hostel professionally just like the private-run hotels in the area, even though it functions only for social purposes.

He said that mismanagement has made the building's appearance awful.

Ms. Zulfia Sanusi, the manager of the building said that the management paid Rp 176 million (about US$818,000) to the Jakarta administration in 1993/1994 fiscal year.

Zulfia noted that the amount had increased by 80 percent from last year's earnings and that the maintenance of the building would improve soon.

According to her, in 1993 some 4,000 youngsters and 5,000 guests stayed the night in the hostel. (09)