Police to summon governor by force

Police to summon governor by force

BANDAR LAMPUNG, Lampung: The National Police are intending to
use force to bring Lampung governor-elect Alzier Dianis Thabranie
to Jakarta for questioning in connection with his alleged
involvement in eight criminal cases.

"The police are resorting to tough action, including the use
of force on the suspect, as he has rejected our summonses several
times," National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar told reporters
here on Saturday.

Alzier is charged with committing eight crimes, including
corruption. He was put on the police wanted criminal list after
failing to fulfill police summonses three times.

He was the unlikely winner of the Lampung gubernatorial
election on Dec. 10, 2002, beating Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri's handpicked candidate
and incumbent Oemarsono.

In her capacity as president, Megawati has so far refused to
approve Alzier's election due to his alleged criminal
involvement. -- JP

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Scene-Borobudur-festival
'SARS no risk at Borobudur festival'
JP/5/ACROSS

'SARS no risk at Borobudur festival'

PURWOKERTO, Central Java: Governor Mardiyanto dismissed on
Saturday fears that the worldwide outbreak of Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) would adversely affect plans to hold
an international arts festival in the grounds of prominent
Borobudur temple, Magelang, Central Java, in June.

"It's a rare international festival. We are committed to
making the event a success, so there will be no changes to our
plans, whatever happens," Mardiyanto said on the sidelines of a
visit to Purwokerto.

He said his administration had anticipated the outbreak by
asking all hospitals across the province to set up a special team
to deal with people showing SARS symptoms. Two suspected cases of
SARS have so far been found in the province, with one of the
patients already discharged from the hospital.

"We will not take special precautionary measures, including
examining participants at the festival in connection with the
SARS epidemic," Mardiyanto said.

Participants from several countries affected by SARS,
including China, Singapore and Thailand, have confirmed their
entry to the festival. -- JP

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Scene-Bandung-hotel
Over 60 hotels in W. Java bankrupt
JP/5/ACROSS

Over 60 hotels in W. Java bankrupt

BANDUNG: More than 60 star-rated hotels and motels across West
Java have gone bankrupt in the past two years due to excessive
tax burdens, a hotel and restaurant association official said.

Chairman of the West Java chapter of the Association of
Indonesian Hotels and Restaurants (PHRI) Hermawan said, over the
weekend, that many hotel and restaurant owners had long
complained about the burdensome taxes and levies collected by
municipal and regency administrations.

He said 72 bylaws requested that businesspeople pay taxes and
levies to boost regional revenues, courtesy of the regional
autonomy regulations that came into effect on Jan. 1, 2000.

Hermawan said many of the bylaws were unlawful, including one
on tax imposed on entrepreneurs applying for licenses to build
hotels.

"It has been understood that the tax is levied under the
authority of the directorate general of tourism and is renewed
every five years. But the local governments demand the tax on an
annual basis," he said, adding the amount of tax varied between
Rp 1 million and Rp 2 million.

The local administration had also bypassed the national
regulations on hotel qualification, training fees, worker health
insurance, he added.

"The West Java administration wants the 700 PHRI members to
become their cash cow," Hermawan said. -- JP