Resort group established

JAKARTA (JP): Director General of Tourism Andi Mappi Sammeng yesterday inaugurated the new Indonesian Association of Tourist Resorts.

The association will be led from 1996 to 2000 by chairman Jan Arifin of PT Lombok Tourism Development Corporation and deputy chairman Sammy Supit of PT Esa Tama Abadi. The association's leadership team also includes Steve Winokan of PT Bali Turtle Island Development, Felix Parlindungan of PT Bakrie Nirwana Resort, Robert Puang Sunur of PT Putra Sentra Prasarana, Tjok Ngurah Swastika of PT Bali Nusa Dua and Muki Probowinoto of PT Mulia Colliman Int'l.

The new association, which groups 41 firms, plans to prepare a blueprint for tourist resort development in Indonesia and to catalog an inventory of problems which may halt the development.

By September 1996, the Investment Coordinating Board had approved investment proposals for the construction of 113 tourist resorts in 17 provinces. More than half will be established in Java and Bali (57.5 percent), while the rest will be built in Sumatra (20.4 percent) and in Indonesia's east (22.1 percent).

The construction of most of the projects, worth a total of US$5.5 billion, have progressed slowly due to poor infrastructure and complicated bureaucracy. (icn)