Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

                 The prolonged row between the city's Ragunan Zoo
                 and the councillors has confused Howletts and Port
                 Lympne Animal Park, which will lend four gorillas to
                 the zoo, and the Gibbon Foundation, which will provide
                 support for the care of the apes.

                 Willie Smits, director of the Gibbon Foundation, said
                 he was disappointed with the inaccuracy of local
                 media reports and with the dispute between
                 councillors and the Ragunan management, mostly
                 about the spending on the gorillas.

                 "The people in Britain are hesitant (to lend the gorillas)
                 as newspaper clippings on the matter are sent there,"
                 Willie said in a discussion here on the controversy
                 surrounding the gorillas, organized by the Dialog
                 Forum on Tourism.

                 He added that soon experts would come to Indonesia
                 to determine whether Ragunan really deserved the
                 gorillas.

                 "I don't understand, as we are only trying to help. Why
                 are people here making such a fuss about the funds to
                 feed the gorillas? Our foundation will be providing the
                 funds for the whole three-year period," he added.

                 Smits was mandated by the late Mrs. Puck
                 Schmutzer, founder of an animal lovers' foundation, in
                 her will to arrange the lending of four low-land African
                 gorillas, to Ragunan Zoo.

                 Schmutzer also financed the building of a giant
                 enclosure for the gorillas, costing Rp 10 billion, in
                 Ragunan Zoo.

                 The Gibbon Foundation will cover all expenses for the
                 gorillas and other primates in the zoo. According to
                 Smits, Rp 200 million per month was enough to feed
                 and maintain the gorillas and other primates in the
                 zoo.

                 The gorillas could eat vegetables, hibiscus leaves
                 known locally as kembang sepatu, and even sugar
                 cane and not merely imported and expensive fruits.

                 Earlier reports stated that for the four gorillas alone,
                 the zoo would need to allocate Rp 2.2 million per day
                 or a total of Rp 3.2 billion annually, which would be
                 taken from the city budget.

                 "I am confused by media reports that the zoo
                 management is still asking for some Rp 3.2 billion
                 annually from the city budget. What is it for?" Smits
                 remarked.

                 Also speaking in the discussion were Allen Marbun,
                 the zoo's operational director and Agus Darmawan, a
                 member of the City Council's Commission B for
                 economics and development affairs.

                 A councillor last week urged the city governor to
                 dismiss Allen for allegedly trying to bribe him with Rp
                 90 million in an attempt to cover-up irregularities in the
                 spending of funds at the zoo.

                 Allen said the City Council deserved the money as
                 they had actively taken part in land acquirement for the
                 zoo.

                 Allen denied media reports on the zoo's proposal for
                 the funds for the gorillas. "You may examine our
                 proposal, there is not a single mention about the
                 gorillas."

                 According to Allen, what was reported by the media
                 was the calculation made by the zoo, which was
                 submitted to the city administration for the calculation
                 of the ticket price to see the gorillas.

                 "We need to put together all costs, including the food,
                 the maintenance of their enclosures and other things,
                 to calculate the ticket price," Allen said.

                 The City Council last month set tickets at between Rp
                 2,000 and Rp 3,000.

                 When asked to comment on the gorilla controversy,
                 Agus Darmawan only said that from the very
                 beginning, the councillors were never consulted about
                 the plan for the apes to be lent to the zoo.

                 "And if all the controversy is now about the figures, it
                 is still being discussed by the City Council's
                 Commission C for budgetary affairs," Agus said.