Prices for gorilla tickets set by council
Prices for gorilla tickets set by council
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Anyone who wants to see the four gorillas that are expected to
arrive here from England next month will have to pay Rp 2,000 or
Rp 3,000, according to a bylaw that was approved by City Council
on Wednesday.
The bylaw, approved through a vote, obligates an adult to pay
Rp 3,000 and a child to pay Rp 2,000 if they want to see the
gorillas at Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta. The admission fee for
the gorillas is in addition to the entrance fee of the same
amount.
Among the council's 11 factions, only the Justice Party
rejected the bylaw.
Not only did the party disapprove of the bylaw, it also
opposed the presence of the great apes due to the large amount of
funding they require, Justice Party faction chairman Mukhayar
R.M. said.
The city administration planned to allocate Rp 3.5 billion
(US$350,000) a year from the city budget for the primates, which
require Rp 5.5 billion for their care.
Mukhayar said the faction feared a possible public protest if
they learn the actual costs for the gorillas' care, including
their food, which amounts to Rp 102 million a month.
Other than arranging for an admission fee to see the gorillas,
the bylaw also stipulates that the Rp 3.5 billion should not be
taken from the city budget.
"It's OK if the council rejects the subsidy. We can cooperate
with the foundation and with some companies," the deputy governor
for financial affairs, Fauzie Alvi Yasin, said after the hearing.
Zoo deputy director Abdullah Baab said he expected the zoo to
secure Rp 8 billion a year from 3 million visitors after the
gorillas arrive.
Abdullah said the gorillas, which will be placed in the middle
of the 14-hectare primate center, are expected to be viewed by at
least 500,000 visitors a year.
He also denied that a contractor, PT Gemini, which built the
gorillas' enclosure, worth Rp 13 billion, was linked to the zoo's
director, Ismianto.
"The contractor was appointed by a foundation which financed
the construction of the enclosure," Abdullah said.
The cage of the gorillas will be brought from the Howletts and
Port Lympne animal park in Kent, and was financed by the
foundation founded by the late Mrs. Puck Schmutzer.