Consumer group gives partial nod to lottery
Consumer group gives partial nod to lottery
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Consumers Foundation gave a
qualified endorsement yesterday to a planned lottery to collect
funds for sports development.
Chairwoman Tini Hadad, speaking after a hearing with officials
National Sports Council, said the foundation principally accepted
the proposal but demanded a guarantee the fund-raising program
would not burden the public.
"We agree to the ideas that the fund-raising program shall run
under a voluntary basis, apply transparent management, not
encourage people to gamble, and not involve state-owned companies
like PT PLN, PT Telkom, PT PAM and city revenues agencies," Tini
said.
Involvement of the companies would inevitably lead to the
compulsory schemes of the past, according to Tini.
"We demand the guarantee because fund-raising programs to
finance certain sports events in the past have tainted the sports
council's image."
Last month, the council introduced the lottery proposal,
called Sports Awareness Campaign, with the aim to amass Rp 100
billion (US$7 million) a year from coupon sales.
The coupons, to be sold in 15,000 branches of state bank BRI
for Rp 5,000 each, offer cash prizes ranging from Rp 5,000 to Rp
100 million. A buyer is entitled to a prize if a coupon contains
three identical sports logos.
A coupon will also serve as a ticket to attend one sports game
-- except for semifinals and finals -- sanctioned by the sports
council. It is valid for one year.
According to the proposal, half of the funds collected will be
disbursed for payment of prizes. Only 30 percent will be used for
sports development.
"We must strictly select the management personnel to run the
program, and decide fair distribution of the funds," Tini said,
adding that sports development deserved most of the money raised.
Council chairman Wismoyo Arismunandar defended the huge amount
of funds to be reserved for prizes, claiming it would attract
people to buy coupons and pack stadiums and other sports venues.
"I think the scheme is the best answer to encourage people to
watch contests here. Sometimes we have to offer prizes to make
them watch and that's OK."
Prizes
The foundation's executive director, Zumrotin, disputed
Wismoyo's argument. She said the prizes might not lure people to
attend sports competitions but only to try to win prizes.
But promoter Dali Taher backed Wismoyo, saying the lottery
would not encourage gambling because the coupons would not
contain numbers.
"Instead, the lottery will eradicate gambling. It has become
an open secret that there are lots of gambling dens in Kota (a
commercial area of West Jakarta) and the government does not
receive a cent from those places."
Last month, the Indonesian Ulemas Council announced it had
turned down the sports council's request to issue an edict on
gambling. The council said it feared the lottery would be a
repeat of the controversial SDSB, banned in November 1993.
Dali said preliminary coupons would be printed in the United
States before the organizers allocated the task to the state-
owned money printing firm, PT Peruri, under the supervision of
American consultant, Technology Promotions Inc.
He said the coupons would be sold soon after the Ministry of
Social Services issues a decree approving the fund-raising
program.
The sports council's consultant Hal Jensen, who has managed
the same ticket sales in 70 countries and 23 states in the U.S.,
said selection of the winners would be by computers.
"I should tell you that ticket is printed on a machine that
costs US$50 million," Jensen said. "The printing process is
designed so you cannot cheat the ticket, you cannot change it.
"It's a very, very secured ticket. In the beginning we start
small and gradually build the investment up as the program
succeeds." (yan)