Hayono wants Games sticker sales to go on
Hayono wants Games sticker sales to go on
JAKARTA (JP): The state minister for youth affairs and sports,
Hayono Isman, said yesterday he hoped the Ministry of Social
Services would extend the permit for the 19th Southeast Asian
(SEA) Games consortium to raise funds.
"The consortium has guaranteed today that it will improve its
management of selling stickers. It will also be responsible to
the public for its management in an open and transparent way,"
Hayono said.
"As compensation, my office will recommend that ministries,
governors and other state-owned companies support the fund
raising," he said.
The consortium, chaired by President Soeharto's son Bambang
Trihatmodjo, said PT Angkasa Rona Graha, which is authorized to
collect funds by selling stickers, collected Rp 2.9 billion
(US$1.2 million) in May 1997.
But this is far below the Rp 35 billion target.
Sticker sales raised Rp 1.3 billion in Jakarta, while only Rp
8 million was collected in Surabaya.
Jambi, Bengkulu, South Sumatra and Central Java are among the
provinces where stickers have yet to be sold.
The consortium is allowed to raise funds by selling 17.75
million stickers over three months. The three-month period ends
tomorrow.
Sixteen million stickers cost Rp 1,000 each, while the rest
cost between Rp 2,500 and Rp 50,000.
The stickers are sold to state-owned electricity company PLN
customers who used more than 900 watts, state-owned water company
PAM customers, state-owned telecommunications company Telkom
customers, drivers or car owners renewing or applying for
driver's licenses and vehicle registration documents.
Hotels, restaurants, recreational parks and airports have also
charged their customers for the stickers.
Earlier yesterday, Enggartiasto Lukita, the consortium's
promotion and business deputy, said the ministry's director
general for social aids, Syafei Anjasmaya, had reprimanded the
consortium over the way it had sold the stickers.
"If we can extend our permit to raise funds from sticker
sales, PT Angkasa Rona Graha will be fully responsible and do it
in accordance with the ministerial decree," he said.
"Selling stickers has made us realize that it is not an
effective way to raise funds from the public," he said.
Reports
Hayono said one way to control the sticker selling was by
publicizing the consortium's monthly reports.
"It's a very good idea to announce monthly reports through TV,
radio or newspapers. If the consortium could do that, I believe
people would be more willing to donate their money," he said.
But Enggartiasto said it was impossible to stage monthly
reports.
"It would take more money to stage such a monthly report on
TV," he said.
Many people have complained that they did not receive stickers
they had paid for.
"The consortium still has to give the stickers to the public.
I understand that the public also wants to help the consortium
but they need to know what the money is being raised for and how
it will be spent," he said.
Enggartiasto said the consortium received $600,000 income from
National Panasonic, which signed a memorandum of understanding
with the consortium on June 6, and Rp 10.81 billion from PT
Angkasa Rona Graha.
"So far, we've spent Rp 20.5 billion, Rp 19 billion of which
was used to support national training," he said.
Enggartiasto said the consortium expected all merchandising -
pins, caps, T-shirts, mascot Hanoman (a white-haired half-monkey
knight) dolls, traveling bags, banana bags and umbrellas - to be
on sale by the end of the month.
"We don't want to take risks by marketing them earlier because
first, we're afraid that piracy will happen and second, we're
afraid that only few of them will sell," he said. (yan)