Minister pledges to push ahead with sports bill

Eva C. Komandjaja and Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After hanging in legislative limbo since 2002, the sports bill looks set to be revived by new sports minister Adhyaksa Dault.

The bill, which was conceived in the early 1980s but was not drafted until 20 years later, was largely ignored by President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who never signed a presidential instruction reintroducing it for further deliberation in the House of Representatives.

Adhyaksa said he planned to propose the bill for deliberation within the first 100 days of President Susilo Bambang Yudoyono's Cabinet.

"I will bring up the issue in the next Cabinet meeting so that the government is well aware of this long-overlooked sports bill. A presidential instruction is needed for its follow-up," Adhyaksa said.

The minister, a former leader of the country's youth sport organization KNPI, made the comments after a meeting with Agum Gumelar, the chairman of the National Sports Council (KONI), here on Monday.

"The sports bill is very important as it redefines the basic need for sports programs and development and seeks to ensure the welfare of our athletes in the future," he said.

The previous lukewarm response to the sports bill has been attributed to the lack of a Cabinet representative pushing for the portfolio after the ministry of sport was disbanded in 2000.

The bill, with 13 chapters and 53 articles, examines issues of life assurance for former athletes, the management of sports development, commercialization and professionalism and rules on doping.

Experts say the legislation would help recharge Indonesian athletes, who have performed poorly in the recent Olympics, Asian and Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

Adhyaksa said the enactment of the bill would improve conditions for athletes, spurring them on to greater achievements in international competitions.

"We know our biggest problem has been funding and it is set out in the sports bill how we can attract financial support to fund our projects ... therefore, passing the sports bill is the first and most basic step (to success)," he said.

He said the bill required the government to partially fund sport through the national budget and set out criteria for sports bodies to attract private sponsorship.

Ministry of National Education director general of sport Toho Cholik Mutohir called on Susilo to issue the presidential instruction on the bill in his first 100 days.

"(Susilo) has to show his commitment in developing the country's sports," Toho said.

Toho's office has liaised with government ministers on sport issues since the sports ministry was closed in 2000.

Adhyaksa also pledged his office would assist in the Indonesia Awakens (IA) program for grooming future athletes in the 2006 Asian Games in Qatar.

"I will contact (IA program head) Djoko Pramono to discuss the matter in one or two days' time," he said.