Sports officials to meet President

JAKARTA (JP): National Sports Council (KONI) chairman Wismoyo Arismunandar, State Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Mahadi Sinambela and organizers of the 15th National Games (PON) will meet with President Abdurrahman Wahid on Wednesday.

KONI deputy secretary-general Husein Argasasmita said Wismoyo would give the President a summary of the council's two-day plenary meeting held last week.

"We will bring the recommendations issued following the plenary meeting to the President tomorrow (Wednesday) at 2:30 p.m.," Husein said on Tuesday.

He said KONI would not fabricate the summary of the meeting or the recommendations from the commissions on athlete development, organizational affairs, and budgetary and general affairs, which were established during the plenary gathering.

"The summary of the discussions were presented at the end of the plenary meeting. The recommendations must be implemented by the KONI chairman and his officials, KONI's provincial chapter officials and sports organizations," he said.

The commission on athlete development recommended the management of Gelora Senayan sports complex be handed over to KONI.

It also suggested a training program similar to the Golden Garuda project for disabled athletes from the Indonesian Sports Body for the Disabled. The commission said this would enable the country's disabled athletes to compete in international events.

The Golden Garuda project is one of KONI's most ambitious programs, aimed at pushing Indonesia into the top six in the 2006 Asian Games.

The commission on organizational affairs approved the results of bidding for the 16th PON. Two provinces, South Sumatra and Central Java, were selected in the opening round of the bid. The commission gave KONI a maximum of three months to receive a decision from the government on which province would host the Games.

The commission also argued for the continued staging of PON, saying the Games were needed to promote national unity, increase friendship and improve the performances of national athletes. It also suggested KONI include the disabled in PON.

The commission on budgetary and general affairs asked KONI to urge the government to issue letters requesting provincial authorities allocate between 5 percent and 10 percent of their budgets to develop sports in their areas.

It also said that in the long term, the government or provincial administrations should include the Golden Garuda training project in their budgets.

The commission also urged KONI to ask the government to change the organization's status from that of a semigovernmental organization to special non-governmental organization, thus allowing it to receive direct funding from the government.

It also reminded KONI to realize its long-term goals set during the 1999 national sports meeting. (ivy)