New sports savings scheme criticized

JAKARTA (JP): The raising of funds for sports development is yet again enveloped in controversy.

The sale of disinfectant swabs for cleaning telephones by the Danubian Rungkaya Foundation, which claims to have obtained a license to monopolize the business, has insisted that customers are not coerced into buying the product.

People have voiced concerns that telephone subscribers will be compelled to buy them, with some questioning the legality of the sales.

"Customers are free to buy or not to buy the product," says the foundation's deputy chairman Anthony Lendeng who called a news conference last week to clarify his position.

The swabs, costing Rp 1,000 (almost 50 cent US dollar) a packet, are available at banks appointed by the state-owned telecommunication company, PT Telkom, to collect telephone payments across the city.

Lendeng explained that the bulk of the money would be contributed to the development of sports, a high spending sector which has often sparked national controversy with its fund raising methods.

Last month, the government's plan to initiate a savings scheme with prizes drew fire from Moslem groups who judged it as disguised gambling. Gambling is disallowed by both the law and Islam.

Lendeng also said that part of the money will also be contributed to social institutions like orphanages and rest homes in Jakarta.

Lendeng denied reports that PT Telkom gets Rp 5 from each packet sold. "Telkom gets no commission whatsoever from the business," he said as quoted by Antara.

The Danabina Rungkaya Foundation hopes that it will be able to raise at least Rp 500 million a month from at least 500,000 of Jakarta's 1 million telephone subscribers.

The product is made in Tangerang and Jakarta by the government's youth organization, Karang Taruna. (pan)