The Regent Jakarta today announced that cleanup crews are progressing on schedule and the 365-room luxury hotel is preparing for re-opening on May 19, 2002. The tower wing will open first followed by all food and beverage outlets a few weeks later. The hotel was severely damaged in February when floods devastated portions of Indonesia.
"As of today, all debris from the two lower levels of the hotel has been removed and we begin the cleaning process," reported Fazal Samad, general manager for the hotel.
"We are pleased with the progress of the recovery efforts and look forward to welcoming guests back very soon."
With safety and health issues as a priority, the hotel has retained the respected company BMS CAT to help with the recovery efforts. Founded in 1981, the company specializes in large-scale commercial and industrial property damage restoration as a result of fires, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes and other catastrophic events. BMS CAT assisted hundreds of companies, universities and manufacturing firms to re-establish operating procedures during the floods in North Dakota, USA in March 1995. They also spearheaded the recovery efforts following the 1983 explosion beneath the World Trade Center in New York and were instrumental in getting The Regent Wall Street reopened days after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in September 2001.
Strategies for the Future
In addition to the massive cleanup efforts, the hotel management team and owners are developing a plan to prevent damage of this caliber from ever occurring again. The hotel has hired a structural engineer to access the structure and strengthen the building by employing an expert team to re-enforce all external entries and the entire building foundation, effectively ensuring that the hotel structure is flood-proofed.
During the recovery, hotel staff--all of whom have remained employed during the hotel closure-- are using this time to develop and enhance important job skills. Some are improving their English language skills by participating in English training classes that are offered daily. Other hotel staff members are gaining international experience during the hotel closure. Forty-six (46) employees are temporarily working at sister hotels in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Maldives, Houston, London and Shanghai. |