Consumers should refuse SEA Games donation stickers

Consumers should refuse SEA Games donation stickers

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta consumers should refuse to pay for SEA
Games donation stickers now that the decree authorizing sticker
sales in the municipality has expired, Governor Surjadi Soedirdja
said yesterday.

He was commenting on the fact that bills for this month sent
by city-owned water company PAM Jaya included an item for the SEA
donation, even though the decree expired Monday.

"According to regulations, they can't do this. People should
refuse to pay," Surjadi told reporters at City Hall.

He said that for the collection to be legal, the decree would
need to be extended, and so far he has not made any decision
about its extension.

"Up until now, I haven't made any decisions. Just wait,"
Surjadi said.

An official from the consortium responsible for sticker sales
said yesterday they had asked the governor to extend the decree,
but had not received a response.

"It's up to the municipality," Titus Sumardi of the consortium
company PT Angkasa Ronagraha said.

He said the consortium had not received reports on the amount
of money collected from state-owned telephone company PT Telkom
or state-owned electricity company PLN.

"It doesn't mean there's anything wrong. Each company has its
own procedures," he said.

SEA sticker sales are authorized at a national level by a
Presidential decree and a Ministry of Social Services decree.
These allow a consortium, chaired by President Soeharto's son
Bambang Trihatmodjo, to raise funds to help finance the October
biennial regional event held in Jakarta.

In Jakarta, the sticker sales were covered by a gubernatorial
decree issued by Surjadi on Feb. 26, which expired Monday.

The gubernatorial decree requires the consortium to report to
the governor every month on the amount of money raised from
sticker sales.

Under this decree, SEA donations were sought from people
applying for drivers' licenses, vehicle registration, building
permits, site plans and land documents, and artesian well
licenses. Donations were also sought from shopping center
customers, as well as airport, hotel, restaurant, and
recreational and entertainment center customers.

The stickers sold for between Rp 1,000 and Rp 50,000 each.

"We only targeted people who could afford the donation,"
president-director of the consortium company, Soeparno K., said.

Titus said the consortium had raised Rp 1.3 billion (US$4.2
million) from sticker sales in Jakarta and Rp 2 billion
throughout the country overall, far less than the anticipated Rp
35 billion needed to help finance the Rp 100 billion games.

Titus said many provinces had asked to postpone sticker sales
until after the May 29 general election.

"It's difficult because each administration has its own
policy," Titus said.

Titus said he would convey complaints from people who had paid
for stickers, but not received them, to relevant government
agencies.

"Sticker sales are based on their policies, not ours. We trust
them," Titus said.

Many customers have complained to the Indonesian Consumers
Foundation about SEA Games donations being tacked on to mobile
phone, telephone, water and electricity bills.

A recent survey by the foundation found that 98 percent of
mobile phone owners questioned objected to paying the donation.
(ste)