Bank savings to fund sportd activities in 1995
Bank savings to fund sportd activities in 1995
JAKARTA (JP): The government plans to provide funds for
various sports activities from bank saving facilities in place of
the defunct national lottery SDSB, starting from next year.
Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Hayono Isman told
reporters here yesterday that the ministry is working with the
Association of Private Domestic Banks (Perbanas) and the Ministry
of Social Services to formulate the idea.
"So far operating bank saving account is the most feasible way
out for the financial shortcomings suffered by national sport
organizations," Hayono said, adding that a replacement for SDSB
is urgently needed due to growing sport activities.
"Without funds, it is impossible to improve our athletes'
talents," he said.
The bank savings, called Tapornas (Tabungan Prestasi Olah Raga
Nasional/National Sport Achievement Bank), is precisely like
other bank facilities, with savers being free to withdraw their
money anytime, Hayono said.
Tapornas is expected to collect Rp 50 billion (US$23 million)
annually. It will also offer top prize money worth Rp 150 million
($69,220) through a lottery system.
"People are free to invest their money in the bank and the
purse may be made higher in an attempt to attract as many bank
savers as possible," Hayono said.
The new bank fund will be passed through a joint agreement
involving Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Minister of
Social Services and Minister of Finance.
Hayono, however, failed to go into detail about how the
savings work, saying that the idea was still a new one. He also
admitted that he had yet to consult the Minister of Finance
Mar'ie Muhammad.
Protests
National sports bodies lost their prime donor, SDSB, last
October, following a series of staunch protests from the public
over the controversial lottery which led the government to ban it
permanently.
The lottery, named Porkas when it was introduced in 1985, had
earmarked around Rp 30 billion (US$13.8 million) for numerous
sport activities annually. It also helped the national sports
governing body (KONI) run its activities.
Hayono said several proposals, including collecting funds from
insurance premiums, has been rejected owing to the uncertain
prospects.
Minister of Social Services Endang Kusuma Inten Soeweno told a
hearing with the House of Representatives last February that her
office had sifted three methods out of hundreds of alternatives
of fund raising ways proposed by the public.
The selected proposals are imposing obligatory donations on
car owners each time they pay their annual vehicle taxes,
reviving the simple draw and collecting funds through sales
promotion draw.
The lack of money has also forced KONI to tighten the
qualifications for national sport bodies which bid to send their
athletes to the upcoming Asian Games in Hiroshima. KONI will let
only sportsmen and women with great chances of winning medals to
lineup for the national squad in the continent's sporting
extravaganza.
KONI hopes to obtain Rp 3 billion ($1.3 million) more from
businessmen to fund the national team's preparations for the Oct.
2-16 Games. (amd)