Bambang welcomes Brunei assistance for SEA Games

JAKARTA (JP): The chairman of the 19th SEA Games underwriting consortium, Bambang Trihatmodjo, said yesterday he would not turn down any offers of assistance from Brunei Darussalam.

"If Brunei really wants to help us, it will be most welcome," he told reporters during a breaking of the fast gathering at the Athletes Village which is under construction.

Indonesia over took Brunei and Vietnam as the host of the biennial event after the two countries said they were unprepared. The Games are scheduled from Oct. 11 to Oct. 19.

State Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Hayono Isman is scheduled to visit Brunei next month at the invitation of the Brunei Sports Minister.

Bambang said he still had no idea if Brunei would give a soft loan or donation for the Games.

The Games organizers need Rp 95 billion (US$39.6 million) to stage the event and Rp 1 trillion to build the two-tower Athletes Village on a four-hectare lot that once contained the Senayan shooting range.

Bambang said he was optimistic that the consortium would receive Rp 20 billion of its Rp 95 billion budget from sponsorship.

"I'm optimistic that we can still earn the money and it will be received before our deadline," he said.

Enggartiasto Lukita, a consortium member, said the first village tower was already eight floors high and was expected to be finished in September.

The first tower, of 40 storeys, will contain 1,011 rooms to accommodate three athletes each. The consortium plans to operate this tower as a five-star hotel after the Games.

Franz Lazaro, the project director, said that construction, which began on Nov. 15, 1996, would be completed in May and the fit out would finish in early September.

"We have one month from September to prepare the operating system to make all equipment in the village go well," he said.

Construction of the second tower is to start next week and will hopefully end in September. The 59-story building will contain 752 rooms. These are expected to be converted to serviced apartments.

About 600 laborers are working 24 hours a day to complete the tower. They will skip Idul Fitri celebrations to finish the buildings on schedule.

"The most difficult thing is to prepare the human resources. If they can't serve the athletes well, they will give us a bad image," Enggartiasto said on the main problem in operating the village.

Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave said his department would help the consortium by providing skilled officials to the village.

Joop urged the consortium to name the towers' suites after national athletes.

"We have to remember that athletes represent our country in international events. I suggest the ballroom is named Hall of Champions," he said.

Hayono said earlier that the government must work on the Draft of Sports soon to support President Soeharto's appeal to stage the 2006 Asian Games and the 2008 Olympic Games.

"We have been proposing the draft to the Minister/State Secretary for about six or seven years. But apparently the Draft of Sports was not considered important so we've always failed," he said.

Hayono expected that, after the draft was approved by the House of Representatives, the country's vision of sports would change.

"Sports will no longer just be extra curriculum in schools, they will be an obligation for every student," he said.

Hayono said the government would submit the proposal to host both events to the International Olympic Committee in 1998.

He emphasized that Indonesia must not only consider staging the events successfully but also groom athletes to achieve its targets.

Indonesia aims to finish eighth in the 2002 Asian Games and sixth in the 2006 Asian Games. (yan)