Government to announce Games audit tomorrow
JAKARTA (JP): The government will announce the results of an audit on the 19th Southeast Asian Games' underwriting consortium tomorrow, Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Agung Laksono said yesterday.
The announcement will be made after he meets with the National Sports Council's top brass early tomorrow, Agung explained after attending a dialog with youth organizations and students at Kemayoran, Central Jakarta.
Early this month, the consortium submitted the audit, conducted by public accountant KPMG Hanadi Soedjendro & Co., to Agung.
The minister refused to go into details about the accountability report yesterday but confirmed that the consortium had a Rp 64 billion (US$8 million) deficit. The consortium, chaired by President Soeharto's son Bambang Trihatmodjo, had previously reported Rp 68 billion in financial losses.
"The deficit is certain, but the consortium will close the gap a little bit after receiving money from the sticker sales," Agung said, as quoted by Antara.
Executive chairman of the consortium, Bambang Yoga Soegama, said earlier that the deficit had been accrued from, among other things, clothes, accommodation and sports equipment expenses.
The consortium, which had to provide Rp 156 billion to stage the SEA Games in October last year, was allowed to raise funds by selling stickers.
Under a decree issued by the social services minister in 1996, it was compulsory to buy the stickers, which were included in the payment of bills for telephone subscribers -- including cellular phone users -- electricity consumers, air transportation travelers and motorists extending their driver's licenses.
Agung was cautious about the possibility of further examination of the consortium following the audit.
"We will wait and see whether we need additional auditing of the consortium's report."
On Friday, House of Representatives member Oelfah A.S Harmanto said the legislative body would ask for the government's explanation on the consortium's performance if there were people who found the accountability report unacceptable.
"We will summon the government for a hearing as soon as we resume the House session," Oelfah, a member of House Commission VIII for education, religion, sports and youth affairs.
The House has been in recess since the end of February but will sit again on May 4.
Oelfah of the Golkar faction said the consortium's deficit report would raise some eyebrows.
"They're all professional businesspeople so how come they suffered that much of a deficit?" she said. (emf/amd)