Sticker sales need to be managed better, says YLKI
Sticker sales need to be managed better, says YLKI
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Consumers Agency (YLKI) urged the
19th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games consortium yesterday to improve
the way it was selling stickers to raise money for the Games.
The agency's executive director, Zumrotin K. Susilo, said the
public wanted a transparent report about the sticker sales and
the selling of stickers to be controlled.
"Tell the public how many stickers have been sold and where
they were sold," Zumrotin said.
People have complained that they have been forced to buy
stickers when paying their electricity, telephone and water
bills.
"The problem is that the public doesn't have a chance to
refuse to pay," she said.
A ministerial decree, issued by the Minister of Social
Services in March, said any money collected has to be given
voluntarily.
The ministry has extended the consortium's permit so it can
raise funds until October.
The consortium printed 17,750,000 stickers which are sold for
between Rp 1,000 (US$0.41 cents) and Rp 50,000 each.
The stickers are sold to state-owned electricity company PLN
customers who used more than 900 watts of electricity, state-
owned water company PAM customers, state-owned telecommunications
company Telkom customers, drivers or car owners renewing or
applying for driver's licenses and vehicle registration
documents.
The agency's chairwoman, Tini Hadad, said the agency suspected
mismanagement was involved in the fund raising.
"Parents who want to get their children's school reports, bus
and ferry customers also have to pay for the stickers. That's not
right, it's against the regulation," Tini said.
"The council and the consortium have to control fund raising
to avoid any possibility of mismanagement," she said.
PT Angkasa Rona Graha said it collected just Rp 2,923,100,000
in May but had contributed nearly Rp 10.8 billion to the
consortium.
"It's very surprising that the company has only collected a
very small amount even though the public feels they have paid a
lot. Where does the money go? That's our question," Zumrotin
said.
PT Angkasa Rona Graha director, Titus Soemadi, said the
company had problems controlling the income from Telkom, PLN and
PAM because they used a computerized billing system.
"Because of the computerized system, we haven't received the
reports until today. Hopefully, by the end this month the reports
will be ready," he said.
The consortium's promotion and business deputy, Enggartiasto
Lukita, said although SEA Games souvenirs would go on sale next
week, they would not contribute as much as stickers sales. (yan)