KONI chief Wismoyo to wait and see on Novanto case
KONI chief Wismoyo to wait and see on Novanto case
JAKARTA (JP): The National Sports Council (KONI) chairman
Wismoyo Arismunandar said on Wednesday he would not take any
action concerning KONI treasurer Setya Novanto, who is involved
in the Rp 546 billion (US$80.3 million) Bank Bali scandal.
"As long as there is no decision from the court saying Novanto
is innocent or guilty, I won't do anything. I'm presuming he is
innocent until then," he said.
On Tuesday President Abdurrahman Wahid issued a permit to
detain Novanto, a member of the House of Representatives and a
businessman, due to his involvement in the scandal.
Wismoyo said he still had no plans to replace Novanto with his
deputy ECW Neloe -- vice president of PT Chandra Asri, which is
partly owned by a company belonging to former president
Soeharto's son Bambang Trihatmodjo.
"I still consider him capable of doing his job as KONI's
treasurer."
Novanto and a business colleague Djoko S. Candra, both PT Era
Giat Prima (EGP) executives, were handed over to the Jakarta
Prosecutor's Office on Tuesday afternoon.
Novanto, Golkar's deputy treasurer, has not attended KONI
meetings or ceremonies since the scandal started in February.
While Djoko is the owner of the Hotel Mulia Senayan, which
housed athletes participating in the 19th Southeast Asian Games
here two years ago.
The construction of the five-star hotel sparked controversy,
with the Jakarta administration fining PT Jakarta Country Club,
which manages the hotel, Rp 15.13 billion for violating zoning
restrictions.
However, Wismoyo said sports organizations must have strict
guidelines on their officials to give their total commitment to
the development of sports.
Speaking of the promised budget of Rp 2 billion by former
state minister of empowerment of state enterprises Tanri Abeng,
Wismoyo said KONI has yet to receive any of the budget.
Tanri has promised to hand over Rp 3.5 billion to help KONI
finance its athletes in the 20th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in
Brunei Darussalam in August.
About Rp 1.5 billion has been disbursed to pay for athletes'
expenses and insurance.
"I believe the budget is available. We only need it to be
disbursed, hopefully soon. But there's a funny thing connected
with the procedure to get the money. The National Development
Planning Board (Bappenas) has requested us to make an
accountability report before receiving the money.
"What a system! I think it teaches people to do 'bad things'.
KONI must use its routine budget to pay for our expenses before
receiving the money from Bappenas."
Wismoyo said with the smaller size of the Cabinet -- where the
office of the state minister of empowerment of state enterprises
no longer exists -- KONI must be proactive in approaching state
enterprises to finance sports development in the country.(yan)