SEAG consortium suffers Rp 68b budget deficit

JAKARTA (JP): The 19th SEA Games Consortium, the fund-raising body for the biennial event held in Jakarta last year, has suffered a Rp 68.1 billion (US$9.08 million) loss.

Executive Director Bambang Yoga Soegama told a news conference yesterday that the consortium had earned Rp 87.9 billion and spent Rp 156 billion.

"The consortium has promised to take full responsibility for financing the event. We don't want to ask for the government to pay the deficit for us. We took the risk," Soegama said.

The consortium, chaired by President Soeharto's son Bambang Trihatmodjo, raised a large part of the funds through the sale of stickers to the users of public utilities, airplane passengers and car owners renewing driving licenses or extending vehicle registration documents.

Of the Rp 87.9 billion raised, Rp 36 billion came from sponsors, Rp 41.6 billion from sticker sales and Rp 10.3 billion from other sources.

Fund raising may have been hampered by poor distribution of the stickers. Although the Ministry of Social Services granted permission to the consortium to release 17,750,000 stickers, only four million were distributed, 500,000 of which were valued at Rp 5,000, 1.5 million valued at Rp 2,500 and two million valued Rp 1,000 each.

The stickers were given to the Ministry of Transportation, which sold 500,000, the Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunication, which sold 2.1 million, and the state-owned electricity company PLN, which sold 100,000. The 1.3 million unsold stickers were returned to the consortium and incinerated, Soegama said.

Fund raising officially ended on Dec. 31, 1997, however the consortium has yet to receive money raised by 21 provincial revenue agencies.

Only agencies in West Kalimantan (Rp 20.4 million), Jakarta (Rp 2.14 billion), Bali (Rp 27 million) and Yogyakarta (Rp 12.5 million) have submitted funds raised. The provinces of Irian Jaya and East Timor were not included in the sticker selling scheme.

The consortium still owes Rp 23 billion to Bank Alfa (formerly Bank Andromeda) and Bank Artha Graha and Rp 39.8 billion to Bambang Trihatmodjo.

Suspicion

Addressing public suspicion of the deficit, the fund and business deputy, Enggartiasto Lukita, said that the consortium only received reports on money raised by the ministries, companies and agencies and had no authority to make checks.

"We can only confirm the amount they transfer and the amount we receive. We don't have any right to question or check them. We can't even ask them to give us details", Enggartiasto said.

Soegama added there was no suspicion that the ministries, companies and agencies had misused the money. We just haven't received confirmations from some of them."

State Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Hayono Isman, urged the consortium Wednesday to give transparent reports to the public. He also said the government could sue the consortium if it is proved to have misused the sticker sales fund.

"If the minister wants to double check the consortium, we don't mind at all. He has the right to do so," Soegama said. (yan)