Soldiers to have $7m shopping center

JAKARTA (JP): The construction of an Rp 18-billion (US$7.64 million) shopping center to serve mainly soldiers started at the Marine Corps complex in Cilandak, South Jakarta, yesterday.

The 20-square-meter building will stand on one hectare of land owned by the Marine Corps. It will have three stories and a basement, said the project's owner, H. Ketut Abdurrahman Masagung, president of Graha Citra Herodiza.

The shopping center will offer discount prices for soldiers, Ketut said.

The construction was launched by Navy Chief of Staff Rear Admiral Arief Kushariadi.

In his speech Adm. Arief said the Plaza Cilandak would be a shopping, recreation, and sports center. He said a similar project had been set up in Surabaya.

"Besides serving soldiers and their families with low-price goods, the plaza will also be opened to public," he said.

The sports facilities are also aimed at helping Indonesia's preparation for next year's South-East Asia Games in Jakarta.

Graha Citra Herodiza, which is owned by Ketut Masagung and Ronny N. Hendropriyono, will build the plaza in cooperation with the Marines Corps.

The center will be jointly managed with the Marine Corps for 29 years and then the agreement will be reconsidered, said Djohan Pahlawan, the director of the company.

In this cooperation the Marines Corps is represented by its cooperative Puskopal Mar.

A similar shopping center, worth Rp 65 billions, is now being built at Cijantung, East Jakarta, in a cooperation with the Army's elite special force, Kopassus.

Ketut Masagung said 20 percent of his investment was fresh funds which would be used for the foundation work.

"We will try to borrow funds for the construction work from a state-owned bank, but we don't know for sure which bank it will be," he said.

The profit from this cooperation will be divided equally between the company and the Marines Corps, Ketut said.

A marine, Sugianto, said he was happy about the new project. "We need an entertainment center like this after long strenuous days of physical drilling".

He said the plaza was also good because he would not need to go far to buy equipment for his office. (05)