State Palaces to open their doors to the public

JAKARTA (JP): A long-standing taboo in the relationship between Indonesian rulers and their people will be lifted when the government allows members of the public to take an inside look at the six presidential palaces.

New presidential household chief Kemal Munawar said on Saturday he was assigned to ensure the palaces would be more open and inviting to the public.

Kemal said Minister of Justice/State Secretary Muladi instructed him last month to create a more democratic atmosphere in the palaces, which could extend to changing their names.

"We will manage the palaces more professionally," Kemal said.

Muladi said last month that only two of the palaces were regularly used by President B.J. Habibie. The President works daily at Merdeka Palace but rarely uses Bina Graha presidential office, unlike his predecessor Soeharto.

Both Habibie and Soeharto designated the State Palace to host state banquets for visiting foreign leaders or when required to receive many guests. The palace is currently undergoing extensive renovations.

But Habibie, like Soeharto during his 32-year reign, has rarely used the Bogor Palace and Cipanas Palace in West Java, Yogyakarta Palace and Tampaksiring in Bali. A presidential vacation home, Pesanggerahan Tenjoresmi, was built at the Pelabuhan Ratu resort in West Java.

The country's first president, Sukarno, regularly visited all of the palaces and resided at Merdeka Palace. Presidential hopeful Megawati Soekarnoputri, Sukarno's eldest daughter, spent most of her childhood and youth in the palace.

In his speech after installing Kemal to replace Basyuni, Muladi said the palaces in Bogor and Cipanas could be used for conferences and short courses for senior government officials and also for tourism. The palace in Bogor was used as one of the venues of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in 1994.

"Tampaksiring Palace can also be opened for the tourist sector," said Muladi.

Prospective visitors will need written approval from the presidential household office, Muladi said.

Kemal said his office employed nearly 1,000 civil servants. Bogor Palace is managed by 100 personnel, Cipanas by 75, Yogyakarta by 120, and Tampaksiring by 120.

Merdeka Palace and the State Palace employ 570 people; about 20 of them work for Soeharto at his private residence on Jl. Cendana, Central Jakarta.

"All of them work to serve the President's activities," said Kemal, a career diplomat.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas nominated Kemal to serve the President as protocol bureau chief last year.

The Bogor Palace compound occupies an area of about 28 hectares. Dutch Governor General Baron van Inhoff began its construction in 1745 and modeled it on Blenheim Palace in Oxford, England.

Cipanas Palace, situated at the foot of Mt. Gede, 103 kilometers south of Jakarta, covers an area of approximately 26 hectares. The palace's sulfur springs also provide hot water for the First Family.

Tampaksiring Palace was built by Sukarno in 1957. Its 19 hectares of grounds are about 40 kilometers north of Denpasar. Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit were the palace's first guests.

Apart from the presidential palaces, the vice president is also designated the Merdeka Selatan Palace. The government once planned to assign a new residence due to security concerns over its location next to the U.S. embassy on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan in Central Jakarta.

Upkeep and maintenance of the palaces, particularly the older structures, presents difficulties, Kemal said.

"It is not easy to manage such historic palaces."

Sources said theft was a problem at the palaces, which house considerable art and antique collections. A low-ranking official recently disclosed that an expensive bird was stolen from its cage at one of the palaces.

A Merdeka Palace cleaner, Mulyadi, was sentenced by the Central Jakarta District Court last month to 10 months in jail for stealing 11 of Habibie's pens.

He admitted that he stole 11 Mont Blanc pens -- together worth Rp 33 million (US$4,715) -- from the room of the head of the presidential household.

"Many palace officials do the same thing, namely bringing home shirts and wall clocks from the palace," Mulyadi told the judge during his trial. (prb)