Brunei refuses to host 1999 SE Asian Games

JAKARTA (JP): Brunei Darussalam rebuffed the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games Federation for the second time yesterday when it refused to host the 20th biennial event in 1999.

Brunei representative Thalib Haji Benidin told a meeting of the Federation's executive committee that Brunei "is not ready to host the event".

He refused to say why Brunei was not able to host the event.

"I have reported everything to the committee. You can ask the president of the federation," he said.

Based on alphabetical order, Brunei should have hosted this year's Games, which will be in Jakarta from Oct. 11 to Oct. 19. Cambodia should have taken Brunei's place but it also refused.

Indonesia agreed to host the Games despite budget restrictions.

Federation president Wismoyo Arismunandar said the federation would visit Brunei to meet its National Sports Council chairman and attempt to persuade Brunei to host the event.

Sultan

He said the federation would also try to meet Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.

"If Brunei can't host 30 sports, then it doesn't have to. It can stage less than 30 sports. Being a host is an honor and all countries must have their turn hosting the Games," Wismoyo said.

"We started the event years ago and now we are uniting 10 countries every two years. If the SEA Games don't exist anymore, our hard work and commitment will be useless."

Wismoyo said he understood a lack of facilities and human resources were Brunei's reasons for declining.

"Brunei is a small country with only 250,000 people. It may find it hard to host such a big event, but not financially," he said.

Malaysian representative Sieh Kok Chi said Malaysia wanted Brunei to host the event. Alphabetically, Malaysia is due to host the Games next and will have to fill in if Brunei does not host the Games.

"The problem for Malaysia is that we are hosting the 1998 Commonwealth Games. To host the 1999 SEA Games will be an anticlimax for Malaysia," he said.

Malaysia suggested the SEA Games be hosted jointly by two or three countries.

"The SEA Games were started with only 10 sports. Now it has increased to 30. Countries like Brunei, Cambodia or Laos that have never hosted the Games before could host the event jointly," Sieh said.

"Malaysia can assist Brunei in hosting the event by staging some sports, for example hockey, in the neighboring Sabah or Sarawak states," he said.

Sieh said the committee would discuss the proposal after this year's Games.

"Brunei doesn't have to be worried about the venues, the accommodation and human resources like technical officers," he said.

Indonesia's International Olympic Committee representative, Mohammad "Bob" Hasan, said the federation could stage the Games in Brunei and get assistance from Sabah and Sarawak and the Indonesian provinces of East, West, Central and South Kalimantan. (yan)