Govt not planning to revive SDSB

JAKARTA (JP): The government has no intention of resurrecting the controversial SDSB lottery which was banned last year.

The lottery had been the government's main financial source to fund sports activities and social services.

Minister of Social Services Inten Soeweno said yesterday that the authorities are still trying to find alternate sources of funding.

Speaking before the congress of the All Indonesian Teachers Union (PGRI) here, Inten said that the government is still able to afford various sports activities and social services.

The government-sponsored lottery was banned last November following continued popular demonstrations.

All four factions in the House of Representatives - the government-backed Golkar, the United Development Party (PPP), the Armed Forces and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) - unanimously asked the government to cancel the lottery.

Critics said the lottery was a form of gambling that took its toll mostly among the poor who were lured into spending more than they could afford on lottery tickets by the fantasy of winning the top prize of Rp 1 billion ($470,000).

Critics also alleged that out of the Rp 5 trillion raised annually from SDSB, only Rp 415 billion actually went into the government's coffers, including Rp 255 billion in taxes.

Inten said the government's call for the public to air new ideas for an acceptable substitute has gotten an outstanding response.

"But none of them has fulfilled the government's wishes," she said, adding that although the search for a substitute is a slow process, the government will continue its efforts.

The government, Inten said, needs non-budgetary sources of outside revenue to finance the development of sports and social activities. (prs)