Surabaya gears up for National Games

Surabaya gears up for National Games

By Ivy Susanti

SURABAYA (JP): The 15th National Games (PON) organizing
committee still has much work hard to do before the Games'
opening ceremony on Monday afternoon.

Committee chairman Imam Oetomo said on Sunday before
witnessing the torch relay at the Grahadi state building that the
organizers were laying on more vehicles to transport athletes
from their hotels to sports venues.

"We received complaints from the contingents, saying that
there was a lack of vehicles to carry them to the venues. We
anticipated it. They will experience no further problems," he
said.

The organizers are trying hard to be good hosts. However, they
seem to have neglected the needs of the journalists who have
flocked to the city to cover the events.

In the press center in the Balai Pemuda, the organizers have
provided 80 computers but journalists still have to pay for e-
mail services.

As of Sunday, no printers were seen and the photocopy machine
was out of order.

Hadiaman Santoso, the deputy chief of PON information
division, said the organizers had outsourced some media services
to private firms.

"We are trying to be a professional organizer. And we want to
provide wider opportunities to many people. So we have allowed
private institutions to supply the computers, photocopies and
Internet services. But all of these will be chargeable," he said.

Hadiaman was confident that journalists could get the latest
information and match results.

Earlier, Imam pledged that East Java would be able to uphold
sportsmanship as the hosts of the quadrennial event.

"We are not partial toward certain provinces. We know that
hosting a multisport event boosts our prestige, so we want to
encourage sportsmanship," he said.

Imam said referees, officials and participants from 26
provinces had vowed to be fair in all competitions.

"If they want to keep the spirit of unity, I'm optimistic that
PON will be successful," he said.

The event is taking place in East Java, which has a crew of
fanatical sport supporters or bonek. Some 8,000 of them have been
organized by the Surabaya Supporters Foundation (YSS) and will be
deployed to liven up the events at the 31 sports venues during
the Games.

YSS chairman Wastomi Suhari said: "About 50 to 5,000 bonek
will be deployed to enliven each match. Soccer matches will be
attended by about 5,000 bonek. Each of them are being given a
free green numbered T-shirt."

The Bonek, mostly jobless people and students, are famous for
their aggressiveness during soccer matches featuring Surabaya.

Wastomi said YSS had tamed the bonek. They would be punished
if they become out of control during a match.

"First, we will warn them if they turn brutal. If they behave
the same, we will not hesitate to hand them over to security
officers."

"We understand we are too abusive to these people. But they
are lower-class people, and they want to be respected and treated
as humans. They have already struggled to get their way to the
venues. So we try to care for them," he said.

Wastomi said YSS had also set up stalls selling souvenirs at
venues in Surabaya, Sidoarjo and Gresik.

"We have provided them Rp 200 million (US$23,530) as capital.
We don't receive support from the East Java government."