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)