Officials, Council say nothing wrong with Buddha Bar

Prodita Sabarini, The Jakarta Post, JAKARTA | Fri, 03/27/2009 11:43 AM

In an amicable mood, Jakarta officials and councilors had lunch Wednesday at the Buddha Bar in Teuku Umar, Central Jakarta, with representatives from the Buddhist community and the restaurant’s management.

The lunch marked an end to the debate about the name of the bar and questions over its permits as both officials and councilors had agreed that nothing was wrong with the bar.

City Council Commission B secretary Nurmansjah Lubis, City Tourism Agency head Arie Budhiman, and head of the Indonesia Buddhist Youth (Gemabudhi) Lieus Sungkharisma carried out an “inspection” of the restaurant that has drawn protests from Buddhist students, questions about the public’s limited access, and, most recently, a request for an investigation into its permits.

Nurmansjah said the purpose of the visit was to see what the management of Buddha Bar has done to the city’s historical building.

The building, built during the Dutch colonial era, was formerly the city’s immigration office. It fell into private ownership in 1998 and was abandoned. The city repurchased and restored the building, spending about Rp 35 billion of taxpayers’ money in the process, promising a unique venue for the public. Since December last year, the only Asian branch of the French lounge chain Buddha Bar, has occupied the historical building.

Wednesday’s visit was a follow-up after a hearing between Commission B, the Tourism Agency and Buddha Bar management a day earlier at the City Council office. At the hearing, Commission B speaker Aliman A’at said the Buddha Bar management had adequate permits to operate, thus ending the debate.

Previously, the Indonesian Corruption Watch said they were concerned that there might have been a conflict of interest behind the transformation of the 96-year-old Old Dutch building into a high-class restaurant.

Involved in the running of the restaurant is Renny Sutiyoso, daughter of former governor Sutiyoso, who approved the restoration of the building.

Nurmansjah said that all necessary permits for the running of a restaurant at the former immigration office had been obtained by Buddha Bar management. It won the tender over other private businesses for having the idea of using the building as an art gallery and restaurant.

The gallery, however, is only a small foyer at the entrance of the building with a few old pictures of the building. The issue of lack of public access has yet to be addressed; criticism arose over the building’s accessibility for the general public, as its current function as a high-class restaurant prevents people from all walks of life entering it.

That fear was proved Wednesday when Buddha Bar staff sent reporters to wait in the parking lot before the meeting. The Jakarta Post was not allowed to pass the front of the publicly-owned building to reach the parking lot, but was told to circle the outside of the venue to reach the said lot. The security guard said that only restaurant visitors were allowed entrance.

Buddha Bar representative Asdur Hasan Rani said the front garden of the venue would be easily damaged if they allowed people to walk in and see the building.

He said people were welcome at the restaurant during operating hours, which are from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m.

Jakarta resident Verena Streitferdt, who occasionally visits the restaurant, said the place was nice and relaxing.

However, she said the government should not have spent so much on the purchasing and restoration of the building, only to make it into as exclusive a place as Buddha Bar, noting that the income generation from the rent of the building was not much. The Buddha Bar management has paid Rp 4 billion for a five-year period.

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