Night spots get Euro 2000 bonus

JAKARTA (JP): With the commencement of Euro 2000, night spots in the city are allowed to open longer than their usual business hours, an official of the City Tourism Agency told reporters on Tuesday.

"They are allowed to operate until 4 a.m. from their usual limit of 2 a.m. to enable soccer fans to watch their favorite teams in the night spots," the agency's head of the tourism business control division Suparlan said.

"The extension is only temporary during the soccer games and normal business hours will resume after the games are over," he added.

Operators, he said, do not need to pay for the extra business hours.

Meanwhile, the agency's head Witjaksono Moewardi reminded owners of the night spots to also consider their neighbors in order to avoid any possible clashes with local residents.

"The night spots must approach their neighbors and develop close relations with them," he said.

Witjaksono was commenting on reports saying that a certain group of people were threatening to stop the night spots from running their business.

Suparlan raised the example of when guests of Srinagar discotheque in Pasar Rumput, South Jakarta joined with local residents to fight threatening people.

"That's why it's important to have good relations with local residents," he said. (nvn)