Indonesia needs drug laboratory
Indonesia needs drug laboratory
JAKARTA (JP): Chairman of the 14th National Games in 1996, Surjadi Soedirdja, urged the government to build a drug laboratory authorized by the International Olympic Organization (IOC).
"The time has come for Indonesia to have its own drug laboratory so that we no longer have to rely on another country for drug tests," Surjadi said at a two-day seminar on doping in Cisarua, West Java, which concluded yesterday.
Surjadi's speech on the doping issue was apparently meant as an anticipatory measure against a possible repeat of the drug scandal revealed early last year following the 13th National Games in September 1993 in Jakarta, which he also chaired.
"The drug scandal hitting the 1993 National Games disgraced Indonesian sports," Surjadi, who is also Jakarta Governor, said.
In February last year, the National Sports Council (KONI) stripped five top athletes of their gold medals and records, after drug tests conducted by an IOC-authorized laboratory in Beijing discovered steroids in their urine.
Today's increasingly tougher competition among athletes, coupled with lucrative rewards and bonuses for top performers, are factors triggering sportsmanship violations, including drug use, Surjadi said.
Anwar Pasau, drug commission chairman at the recent national congress held by the National Sports Council (KONI), said that the sports body would only able to finance a small number of drug tests during the National Games next year due to its limited budget.
"China charged us around US$100 to $200 for each sample, which is quite expensive for the KONI budget. Hence, KONI will have to take urine samples only of athletes who showed extraordinary performances or who are suspected to have taken performance- enhancing drugs," Anwar said.
Organizer of the seminar, Ery Chayaridipura, said that the formulation of the legal status of an Indonesian drug laboratory will be drawn up. He will also draft plans for the establishment of an Indonesian anti-doping commission.
If established, Indonesia will become the fourth country in Asia, after China, Japan and South Korea, to have its own IOC- authorized drug laboratory.
The seminar was also attended by Minister of Health Sujudi, chairman of the German Anti-Doping Commission Hans Evers and IOC secretary-general Donike. (arf)