Games consortium asked to build athletes' village
Games consortium asked to build athletes' village
JAKARTA (JP): The underwriting consortium of next year's 19th Southeast Asian Games may have to build a new athletes' village if the National Sports Council (KONI) wants the Senayan sports complex to be the center of the competition.
State Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Hayono Isman told reporters after a ministerial meeting yesterday that the village would be built on a four-hectare site next to the Senayan shooting range.
The plot, part of the Senayan sprawling sports complex, is now owned by the consortium's coordinator Bambang Trihatmodjo, President Soeharto's eldest son.
"I will ask Mas Bambang to provide an athletes' village on his land if the sports council insists on hosting all events at Senayan," Hayono said.
Around 5,000 sportsmen and women from Southeast Asian countries are expected to take part in the SEA Games, the third time Jakarta has acted as host.
In the previous two Games in 1979 and 1987, Indonesia accommodated its guests at the Senayan athletes' village, land which now has been turned into a business center and shopping mall.
Earlier, Hayono said that the Senayan sports complex will be the venue of 17 out of the 25 events proposed by Indonesia for the SEA Games. The final decision on the number of events will be made at the SEA Games Council Members Meeting here in August.
The minister suggested that all martial arts, archery and golf competitions should be held at several venues in Cibubur, East Jakarta and Sentul in Bogor, West Java.
Hayono said yesterday that the Games organizing committee could save the budget if they agree to his proposal. "They can accommodate many athletes at another village in Cileungsi, Bogor for free," he said.
The proposed athletes' village is a dormitory in Cileungsi, Bogor, some 25 kilometers south of the city center. It is owned by leading businesswoman and Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana.
The SEA Games will cost the Bambang-led consortium Rp 70 billion (US$30.4 million). Bambang, who owns the Bimantara Group holding company, was the only businessman who managed to submit a proposal to the state minister's office.
The consortium is also expected to provide routine commuter buses around the sports venues.
Yesterday's ministerial meeting also decided to stage the Games in October in conjunction with school holidays.
Also yesterday, an international sports and leisure division from Singapore, Dentsu Inc., offered the sports council a sponsorship proposal for the SEA Games.
KONI treasurer Setya Novanto quoted the company's business development manager, Sharapan Singh Dhillon, as saying that the company estimated to collect US$15 million from sponsorship fees.
Dhillon, also secretary-general of Singapore's International Olympic Committee, owns the company that had first-hand experience in handling the sponsorship of the 1993 SEA Games in Singapore. The Games cost the company $16 million, but earned it S$3.5 million of profits.
Novanto said that next week, a Japanese company by the name of Hoku Doku would also present a similar proposal. Japanese film manufacturer Konica, Novanto said, had also shown its interest. (05/arf)