The Indonesian culture and tourism department in cooperation with other government organizations has set up a crisis center dealing with the JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton bomb explosions in the Mega Kuningan area, South Jakarta, Friday morning.
“We formed the crisis center quickly today at 10.00 a.m. local time to respond to the bombing case,” Antara news agency quoted the secretary of the department’s marketing directorate general, Noviendi Makalam, as saying.
He said his department in cooperation with the Jakarta city administration and the Communication and Information Department had formed the crisis center to supply information and data relating to bombing incidents.
The center, he added, hoped to be able to supply information and data and also to show the government’s attitude and quick response to the case for those who need such information.
The base of the center is located at the Sahid Jaya Hotel on Jalan Sudirman in central Jakarta.
The explosion threatens seriously the tourism sector of Indonesia that now is growing positively.
Until the first quarter of 2009, Indonesia had been the destination of at least 1.893 million international tourists meaning growing at a level of 1.53 percent compared the same period last year.
Meanwhile, neighboring countries such as Singapore, Thailand and Japan in the same period are having negative growth. It means Indonesia was not so affected by the economic crisis that is hitting the world today.
The explosions hit the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotels in the Mega Kuningan area, central Jakarta, early Friday, killing at least nine people and injuring 52 others, including 16 foreigners.