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.