Grumbling continues in opening countdown

JAKARTA (JP): Complaints about unfinished facilities continued to hound SEA Games' organizers yesterday as the clock ticked down to the opening ceremony.

Women's hockey matches, scheduled for Saturday, were postponed a day to allow construction of a temporary stand for VIPs and teams.

Repairs are also needed to the fence surrounding the newly built synthetic pitch in the Senayan sports complex.

As if to add insult to injury, organizers announced they would provide manually operated scoreboards, not digital ones.

"I regret the arena is not ready yet and that facilities are being built in an emergency," said Primadi Tabrani, a national hockey association official.

"We have been unable to take advantage of our hosting the Games, because we have not had time to adapt to the pitch."

Eleventh-hour preparations were also underway at the weight lifting venue in the Senayan tennis stadium

Workers were still setting the floor and the backdrop for the competition, scheduled to begin this morning.

An Indonesian weight lifting referee attributed the catch-up efforts to procrastination by the Indonesian Weight Lifting, Power Lifting and Body Building Association.

"This is a chronic problem which occurs every time they prepare for a big event," said the referee, who requested anonymity.

He believed, however, that the venue would be ready on time.

The weight lifting association had earlier faulted the Games' organizing committee for not delegating responsibility for setting up the venue.

"But we don't want to look for a scapegoat," an official said. "On Friday, we decided to take over the tasks."

The association hired 10 workers to help out eight workers from the organizing committee.

A temporary warm-up room has been set up under a tent in an adjacent parking lot.

Organizers could take some cheer from Thai national weight lifting coach Propian Tunvera, who declared himself satisfied with the venue during an inspection yesterday.

Hotel

Malaysian track and field coach J. Vijayan was fuming yesterday morning over a snafu in reservations at the Hotel Mulia Senayan, the athletes village.

Accompanied by 60 athletes and officials, he arrived at the hotel to find their rooms were not ready.

"We faxed our members' names two days ago, and now they say that the administrative clearance is still being processed," he told The Jakarta Post.

He claimed a front desk officer had promised to try to find them rooms, but had not returned after several hours.

It was important that athletes were not upset during their preparation for their events, he added.

Malaysian judo official Cheah Pik Yee said the athletes needed to rest.

Journey

"It has been a tiring journey as they had to wake up before 4 a.m. We need to take a bath or sauna, and then go straight to the training sites to practice."

Hotel guest relations officer H. Bambang said the hotel was overbooked as 70 rooms -- each designated to accommodate three people -- were undergoing repairs.

Only 60 percent of the 1,008 rooms were available, he said, and some rooms scheduled for occupancy needed further renovations.

Although stranded in the Mulia lobby for several hours, the Malaysian contingent was reported to have found rooms at the nearby Hotel Atlet and several other hotels by late yesterday afternoon.

At least 12 hotels in Greater Jakarta and West Java are being used to accommodate the 5,898 athletes and officials from the 10 participating countries. (04/10)

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