Tanamur strikes deal to reopen later this week

JAKARTA (JP): Diskotik Tanamur, the oldest discotheque in the country, will be allowed by to resume operations later this week after being closed since Saturday, a city administration official said yesterday.

The discotheque on Jl. Tanah Abang Timur in Central Jakarta was temporarily closed following complaints from residents and motorists about congestion arising from cars parked along nearby streets.

Toha Reno of the city public order office said yesterday that the decision to allow Tanamur to reopen was taken earlier this week after the disco's management agreed to a greater involvement of the city parking and land transportation agencies in the management of the area's parking system.

"It is hoped that the further involvement of city officials will unravel traffic congestion in the area which is mainly caused by the unprofessional way parking has been handled until now," he said.

According to Toha, the city tourism and parking agency offices had warned the management of Tanamur, one of the most famous nightspots in the capital, to handle parking along Jl. Tanah Abang Timur and Jl. Budi Kemuliaan properly.

Upon learning that cars were still being parked in a way that left very little space for passing vehicles, officials from the agencies met the management at 3 a.m. on Saturday and instructed the owner, Ahmad Fahmy, to close the nightspot temporarily, he said.

Toha said there was heavy traffic on streets near the discotheque every night of the week, particularly over the last month.

"In the last month the number of people at the discotheque has shown a rapid increase evident from the abundance of private cars and taxis in the area all through the night," he said.

He said cars were always parked bumper-to-bumper along the two streets between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m.

Toha said the problem had worsened because people who managed the parking were only interested in making money and did not consider the interests of local residents and other motorists.

Parking in the area is handled by hoodlums and officials from the city parking agency who are failing in their duty, he added.

"The officials and the hoodlums only care about the money. It's a pity the discotheque's management did not employ their own parking officers to oversee parking in the area," Toha said.

He added that his office had received complaints from several Tanamur customers who reported parking attendants had forced them to pay Rp 10,000 to park their cars in the vicinity of the disco.

Tanamur provides a special parking area for its customers. However it is only able to accommodate 60 cars meaning that many others have to be parked along the two streets, Toha said.

Tanamur's owner Fahmy refused to comment on the matter but Melly, a member of his staff, confirmed on Tuesday that the discotheque had been closed down by the city administration as a result of the parking problem.

Tanamur, which will celebrate its 28th anniversary in December, is also widely known as a popular hangout for gays and transvestites. (cst/bsr)