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)