"There will be a memorandum of understanding between the Sambas district government and the influential Malaysian businessman," Sarawak Commerce and Industry Board spokesman Datu Saleh Hj Sulaiman said here on Friday.
According to him, the investment in the construction of the hotel was estimated at 12 million Malaysian dollars or around Rp41.2 billion.
"The figure does not include the cost of the needed land," he said, adding that preparations for the construction of the hotel were already being made such as efforts to obtain the necessary licenses from the Sambas district government.
Datu Saleh said construction work on the hotel would start soon after the relevant permit was issued.
"It will probably take 18 months to build the hotel," Datu Saleh said.
He admitted that the construction of the hotel was inseparable from the preparation of Aruk to be an Indonesia-Malaysia border security post.
Aruk is adjacent to part of Malaysia. After the Aruk cross border gate was opened in January this year, the people of Sambas in West Kalimantan were free to cross into Malaysia.
The opening of the Aruk-Biawak cross border gate was intended to accelerate the process of regional development. (Uu.O001/HAJM)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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