New hotel opens for SEA Games

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto inaugurated yesterday the five-star Mulia Senayan Hotel which was built in record time for next month's Southeast Asian Games.

The US$240 million 40-story hotel has 1,008 rooms. It is situated on Jl. Gelora in the Senayan, South Jakarta.

It is owned and managed by PT Mulia Intanlestari, a subsidiary of the Mulia Group.

Chief commissioner Bambang Tri Hatmodjo said the hotel was one of many infrastructure facilities built in Jakarta for the 19th SEA Games.

Bambang, Soeharto's second son, also heads the consortium of companies appointed last year to build new facilities for the biennal regional sporting event scheduled for Oct. 11-19.

"About 7,000 workers worked tirelessly night and day to finish it on time," he said in underscoring the eight-and-a-half month construction period.

Work continued during the Moslem Idul Fitri holidays. Two minor fires in July and August did not disrupt the schedule.

"We've sent an application to be entered in the Guiness Book of World Records," Bambang said in his report to the President.

The rapid construction has already earned the hotel an award from the Semarang-based National Record Museum.

The Mulia Group is a growing diversified business group with several publicly listed affiliated firms.

The hotel, located on a four-hectare lot adjacent to the Senayan shooting range, has a wide range of facilities including Southeast Asia's largest ballroom, meeting rooms and rental business space.

"We are proud and honored to be appointed to participate in this important sports event," Bambang said. (prb)