Member of Parliament Regarding the Delayed Ancol Project: We Were Lied to, Meetings So Far Have Never Had Problems

The beach in the Taman Impian Jaya Ancol area in Pademangan, North Jakarta. (Between)

JAKARTA - Member of Commission B of DKI Jakarta Regional Representative Council (DPRD) Gilbert Simanjuntak admitted that he never knew that PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol had a stalled project in its tourist area.

This is because, while holding a meeting with the board of directors of Ancol and the DKI Provincial Government, Commission B of the DPRD DKI has never received a report regarding the stalled project chaos.

"We were lied to. So far, the meeting with Ancol has never raised this issue," Gilbert told reporters, Wednesday, June 14.

Gilbert said, Ancol had indeed admitted that his company's finances were making losses, but this was due to the COVID-19 pandemic which had limited community activities and had an impact on tourist attractions.

"He (Ancol) said he was losing money because of COVID. Then he asked to be given the convenience to take credit of nearly IDR 1 trillion from Bank DKI, we agreed," said Gilbert.

Therefore, Commission B of DKI Jakarta DPRD plans to summon Ancol management to clarify the matter.

"There is very much potential to summon Ancol. It (the summons plan) has been discussed, but it's still being held up," he said.

Some time ago, former Main and Independent Commissioner of PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol Thomas Trikasih Lembong said a number of projects in the Ancol area had stalled due to the inability of management to manage assets.

The former Head of the Investment Coordinating Board alluded to the management of ABC Mall or Ancol Beach City which is in the Ancol Carnival Beach area, to the point where the construction was of poor quality. The operation of the asset, whose management is held by the two joint venture entrepreneurs, was forced to stop due to an internal conflict.

"In fact, this mall used to gain fame because it was the location for concerts of a number of international musicians. Then the two businessmen fought, and it finally broke down," said the man who had served as Minister of Trade some time ago to journalists.

In addition, there is a dispute over the assets of Sea World Ancol that is being tried in the Supreme Court (MA). The construction of this aquarium was the result of a partnership between Ancol and Lippo Group, which at first went well but ended up in a dispute. It was Ancol who won the trial in the Supreme Court.

"Ancol is not developing. Many projects fail, stall, or have problems in Ancol," said Thomas.

Not only that, the Indonesian Ombudsman has also issued a letter of recommendation for maladministration regarding the cooperation agreement between PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol and several parties. That is related to the existence of state assets that are assessed unilaterally, even though there are losses in state finances.