New science and cultural center

New science and cultural center

JAKARTA (JP): The municipal administration is considering an offer from Mitsui Corp. of Japan to build a new science and cultural center in the city.

Head of city public relations office Soesila Darmoadji told reporters on Wednesday that at first the company had offered a donation to modernize the city's planetarium facilities at Ismail Marzuki cultural center but that the governor had refused it.

"The governor said the city had no intention of changing the architecture of the planetarium," Soesila said.

Soesila added that the governor realizes that the equipment in the planetarium is out of date, but that he intends to modernize it with equipment which is made in Germany.

He said the governor then suggested that Mitsui build a new planetarium and the company agreed to the proposal. Mitsui did, however, ask the city administration to provide between three and five hectares of land as the site of the center.

"Now the company has told the governor that they are going to build the (science and cultural) center instead and that the planetarium will be part of it," Soesila said. (yns)