SEAG consortium expects to raise Rp 35b from fees
JAKARTA (JP): The 19th SEA Games consortium hopes to raise Rp 35 billion (US$14.6 million) by making the public pay fees on top of their electricity, water, telephone and other bills.
"We'll take Rp 35 billion from a Rp 40 billion income. Rp 5 billion will be used for operational costs," Bambang Yoga Sugama, the consortium's vice chairman, said yesterday.
The consortium will distribute 17,750,000 stickers to record that Games fees have been paid. These include 16,000,000 stickers at Rp 1,000 each, and 1,750,000 stickers costing between Rp 2,500 and Rp 50,000.
Bambang said the consortium was raising the funds in cooperation with the state electricity company PLN, state water company PAM, state telecommunications company Telkom, airports and hotels in 27 provinces.
"The distribution of stickers will not burden society. We'll only sell stickers to those with money," he said.
Bambang said that many would be exempt from the fees. For example, families in houses with electricity capacities below 900 watts would not have to pay the fees on their monthly electricity bills.
"The selling of the stickers is controlled by Minister of Social Services regulations," he said.
The stickers have not been distributed in all provinces, but Jakarta, Medan and Semarang have started collecting the fees.
Major sponsor
Bambang said the consortium expects to make another Rp 20 billion from five sponsors: National Panasonic, Tiger Beer, Konica, Aqua and Nikon. These sponsors were announced at the SEA Games launch on March 14.
He said the consortium was committed to paying for all the costs of staging the Games here in October.
"No matter how much the organizing committee needs, either to stage the event or to train athletes, the consortium will try to meet it," he said.
Last week, the consortium's chairman Bambang Trihatmodjo said he did not want the committee to increase its budget.
The budget for the biennial event is Rp 101 billion. It was initially Rp 35 billion. The budget excludes the Rp 35 billion needed to train the Indonesian team.
Bambang Yoga Sugama said the consortium had provided the team Rp 11 billion, including Rp 1.5 billion for last year's Olympic team.
The National Sports Council's chairman, Wismoyo Arismunandar, said the budget was effective and efficient.
"Everything has been planned effectively and efficiently. There's no money wasted, no-one is taking advantage of it," he said.
Shooting
On the consortium's plan to build an underground parking lot below the Senayan shooting range, Wismoyo said the Indonesian Shooting and Hunting Association would discuss it further with the company developing the athletes village.
"I am yet to receive reports on the development. But I have asked journalists not to write about this problem. We'll try to overcome it. We should trust our leader," he said.
Last week, the association's executive director, Sutiyoso, objected to the plan, saying the three-month construction of the parking lot at the range would disturb the team's training.
The range is only 50 meters from the village. The parking lot is expected to be built in time for the Games.
President Soeharto is scheduled to open the Games on Oct. 11. They will end on Oct. 19.
Sutiyoso said the range had been audited by the International Shooting Union last year. The car park could mean that a new audit was required.
"The developer has guaranteed that the underground construction will not disturb training. It will not make noise like an earthquake," Wismoyo said. (yan)