KONI needs times to formulate Tapornas
KONI needs times to formulate Tapornas
JAKARTA (JP): It would take at least two months for the
Tapornas team to formulate a mechanism to put the savings
scheme, to help finance sport activities, into effect, a National
Sports Council (KONI) official said yesterday.
"The important point here is that President Soeharto has
approved it as a movement to mobilize funds from the public,"
Setyo Novanto said. He added that a study on the Tapornas system
has been carried out by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
Tapornas is a 12-month savings scheme, which offers monthly
prizes totaling Rp 1.5 billion. The first prize ranges from Rp
400 million to Rp 700 million per month. The lowest prize offered
is Rp 100,000. However, the savings plan's interest rate, ranging
from three to five percent per annum, is far lower than the
medium market rate, which presently arrives at 12 percent.
Profits earned from the seven to nine percent difference will
be used as sports funds for KONI, as well as for paying the
prizes. Tapornas has been devised to serve as a substitute for
the widely disliked state lottery SDSB, which was the major
sources of funds for KONI.
Tapornas' feasibility is still in question as far as the
public's response is concerned.
"We still have to accurately anticipate public response,"
Nantho Susanto, the team's secretary, said, "since the public is
our main target group."
The other target groups are prominent businessmen, who are
members of KONI's special staff, and the 200 biggest tax payers,
from whom "a good response can already be expected," Nantho said
optimistically.
"Some banks are already behind us," Nantho said. But he
declined to reveal which ones. Natho reiterated what Minister of
Youth Affairs and Sports Hayono Isman had earlier said that
Tapornas has opted for the state-owned Bank Republik Indonesia
because it was the state bank with the widest banking network
throughout Indonesia. "Far-reaching networks are important for
reaching as many people as possible," he added. (arf)