MV BUKIT SIGUNTANG TO FUNCTION AS FLOATING HOTEL

Ambon, March 10 (ANTARA) - Luxury passenger ship MV Bukit Siguntang operated by state shipping company PT Pelni will function as a floating hotel for participants of Sail Banda 2010.

"We fully support the upcoming international marine event, and therefore we want to turn MV Bukit Siguntang into a floating hotel for Sail Banda guests and participants," PT Pelni spokesman Asep Suparman said here on Wednesday.

With a capacity of 2,000 passengers, MV Bukit Siguntang will function as a floating hotel to accommodate thousands of domestic and overseas tourists who will come to Maluku for the Sail Banda event from July to August this year.

The decision to turn MV Bukit Siguntang into a floating hotel was taken following the result of a meeting of Maluku provincial administration officials with State Ministry for State Enterprises (BUMN) and the directors of PT Pelni in Jakarta recently.

Another support of BUMN for Sail Banda is to maintain the frequency of Pelni ships sailing from Ambon to Banda before and after the the international marine event.

"All Pelni ships plying from Ambon to Banda, West Southeast Maluku (MTB), and Southwest Maluku (MBD) will be made ready to support the international marine event of Sail Banda 2010," Asep Suparman said.

He expressed hope that such a support given by PT Pelni would contribute to the success of the event in order to improve the image of Maluku which is rich in marine and natural resources.

Meanwhile, Ambon municipal tourism spokesman Mrthen Kailuhu said on a separate occasion that the local people of Ambon city were less enthusiastic to register their houses as home stay for Sail Banda participants.

"Information for the people to register their houses as home state was given a month ago but up to the present there are only 11 residents at Suli village who registered their houses to Sail Banda committee," Kailuhu said.