The Jakarta Post-8 Nov 2017
The Jakarta administration plans to develop halal tourism in North Jakarta, a municipality official regards as a “dark” area.
City-owned hotel management PT Jakarta Tourisindo (Jaktour) president director G. Jeffrey Rantung said that halal tourism would start with a sharia hotel development in North Jakarta as a pilot project.
“Looking at its condition, we all may agree that it’s a dark area. Therefore, we want to develop a sharia hotel to neutralize the situation as well as raising its social values and economy,” he said on Wednesday as quoted by kompas.com. Jeffrey did not elaborate on the “dark area” remark.
He said that his company had a target location around the Jakarta Islamic Center in Kamat Tunggak, Koja district to develop the sharia hotel. Kramat Tunggak was a former red-light district.
“We received instructions to manage that area directly from the Jakarta governor and deputy governor,” he added.
Jeffrey said that his company was going to use a building behind the mosque at the Islamic center for the hotel. The building currently belongs to the city’s social agency.
“We will manage and operate the existing building as a hotel,” he said, adding that the building was usually used for workshops as reported by kompas.com. Jeffrey did not elaborate on the “dark area” remark.
