Surabaya gears up to host 15th PON
By Mohammad Zurqoni
SURABAYA (JP): Visitors in Surabaya, the capital of East Java, will be surprised by the many banners and billboards displaying "Ponti" the peacock throughout the city.
Surabaya will host the 15th National Games (PON) for the second time since 1969. The quadrennial event will take place from June 19 to June 30 in seven cities -- Surabaya, Gresik, Sidoarjo, Malang, Kediri, Situbondo and Jember.
The PON organizing committee has prepared venues and facilities to accommodate nearly 5,000 athletes from 26 provinces competing in 35 sports.
Despite the decision made by the government -- as a result of a recommendation from the National Sports Council (KONI) at a plenary meeting in February -- to make Palembang, South Sumatra the next host, Surabaya needed to prove PON's success.
President Abdurrahman Wahid has been confirmed to open the event at Delta Stadium in Sidoarjo, and organizers have been speeding up its preparation.
PON organizers spokesman, Suprawoto, told The Jakarta Post that the venues and facilities were 90 percent completed.
The organizers will have to prepare 37 sports venues in eight cities. Half belong to local administrations while the rest belong to private sectors.
The private sector properties have yet to be renovated; the organizers plan to do so a few days before the opening ceremonies.
"If we renovate the venues now, they will be broken before we can use them because the owners will rent them to other people," Suprawoto said.
He expressed optimism that East Java would successfully stage PON.
"Unlike the last PON in Jakarta in 1996, I believe every venue will be sold out," he said, adding that the event would coincide with the school holidays.
"It depends on how well we can promote it, how well we can draw in spectators."
Skepticism
Despite the optimism expressed by the organizers, many people were skeptical about East Java's ability to host the event, even though it staged PON back in 1969.
The skepticism was a reaction to the problems that have occurred since East Java started preparations in 1998. The construction of Pakal Stadium, the original site for the opening and closing ceremonies, had to be terminated due to the economic crisis which hit the country in 1997.
The organizers had to switch the location to Delta Stadium in Sidoarjo, despite the already begun construction which cost a staggering Rp 11 billion (US$1,375,000).
However, PON organizers chairman Imam Oetomo put aside the skepticism saying that East Javanese would work together to make the event a success.
"We have to be optimistic that PON will go on as planned. There is no indication that PON will be canceled. We are ready to host it," said Imam, who is also East Java's governor.
Fund
East Java will spend a total of Rp 61 billion to host PON. The fund comes from the State Budget, Rp 10 billion, the Provincial Budget, Rp 35 billion, a contingent contribution of Rp 5 billion and Rp 11 billion from sponsors.
PT Lasindo has been appointed by the organizers to look for sponsors. The company has managed to get Rp 7.5 billion from cigarette giant company PT Gudang Garam, Rp 5 billion in cash money and Rp 2.5 billion in operational costs for promotion and publication.
Mineral water company PT Aqua Golden Mississippi has contributed Rp 1.5 billion, Rp 1 billion in cash and Rp 500 million in operational costs.
The organizers have also signed an agreement with five private television channels,RCTI, SCTV, Indosiar, ANteve, and TPI to earn even more income by selling television rights to advertisers.
The five channels plus state-owned TVRI will have a TV pool offering live broadcasts of the opening and closing ceremonies on all channels.
The pool is estimated to cover the entire cost of the ceremonies, about Rp 5 billion.
The organizers have also staged 23 bazaars -- the People's Economics Empowerment -- in seven cities in the province, involving 1,500 small and middle-scale businesspeople.
The East Java administration has spent Rp 11 billion, taken from the National Coordinating Board for the Family Planning Program (BKKBN), in order to groom the entrerpeneurs.
Unfortunately, the organizers have failed to attract East Javanese attention to the bazaars. Only a few have so far attended them. Some businesspeople have complained that no one has bought their products.
Accommodation
However, their situation was in sharp contrast to the windfall hotels will experience during PON. Occupancy rates for hotels in Surabaya, Malang and Sidoarjo will be 50 percent higher than normal.
The organizers have reserved 3,000 rooms from 61 hotels to accommodate 5,000 athletes and 2,000 coaches and officials from 26 contingents.
The organizers will also have to provide luxury sedans for 26 governors, which will attend the event here, and also for 26 provincial chefs de mission and 26 deputies chef de mission.
The KONI chairman, vice chairmen and each official will be provided with cars during their stay in East Java.
Surabaya will also provide 467 station wagons, 159 buses and 41 small trucks to help deal with all the equipment and luggage, too.
Despite the VIPs, East Java will also be flooded by nearly 1,000 journalists from all media. They will work in three Main Press Centers (MPCs), Balai Pemuda Surabaya, Delta Stadium Sidoarjo and in Malang.
Each MPC will provide 50 personal computers (PCs) for the journalists plus 10 units PC in each press center.
Unfortunately the organizers will not provide modems for the computers. They will only provide internet access services in each MPC and PC, which will be charged to the users.
Opening
The most exciting moment in PON will be the opening ceremony. PON organizers have hired well known choreographers Bagong Koesoediardjo and Guruh Soekarno Putra to arrange the opening dance performance. The theme will be national reconciliation.
A laser display, arranged by Mata Elang Jakarta, will follow the performance.
The organizers will set up a huge screen on top of Delta Stadium in Sidoarjo.
The display is estimated to be visible from a distance of 12 kilometers.
President Abdurrahman Wahid is scheduled to officially open PON by pushing the button on the laser display, the content of which will remain a secret until the event.
As a tradition in multi-sports events, PON's opening ceremonies will also feature the symbolic lighting of the torch. The torch will be lit by the eternal flame, Khayangan Api, at Sendang Harjo village in Bojonegore on June 7.
The procession will be attended by State Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Mahadi Sinambela, East Java governor Imam Oetomo, KONI chairman Wismoyo Arismunandar and other KONI officials.
The flame will be carried by nine athletes to the Grahadi State Building in Surabaya before being brought to Sidoarjo.
Supporters
East Java has been notorious for its bonek, or hooligans, who have a tendency to go on a rampage when their favorite team loses, and this naturally makes the 26 participating provinces a bit wary.
Hooliganism has, unfortunately, been a staple of East Javanese soccer for quite some time.
Since the 1980s, these deranged maniacs have destroyed everything in their path -- cars, homes, even trains. Once their blood gets boiling nothing can stop them. These snarling, gimlet- eyed waterheads can't wait to sink their teeth into fresh carrion; state-owned railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia claims to have suffered a loss of millions of rupiah due to the revolting shenanigans of these godless beasts.
Their thuggish misdeeds do not only occur in Jakarta and Semarang, however. Even citizens in Surabaya were threatened by them on one occasion. Thugs made passengers cough up their money- purses when their favorite team, Persebaya, lost.
Sometimes they set cars on fire or break into shops along the main streets of town.
The PON official in charge of security, Colonel (Police) Sabur, said he has anticipated the possibility of riots and demonstrations in hosting cities. The important thing is, the rioters are always easy to spot. They tend to walk with a sort of geriatric shuffle due to rickets, an affliction they suffer from in large numbers. This could in fact be the reason why they're so easily angered.
The police will deploy 16,000 officers in and around the Delta Stadium.
A total of 35,000 persons from Police and Armed Forces will secure PON for the duration of the event.
Sabur said the organizers had asked hooligans to join the security forces as a way to keep them from wreaking havoc on the population.
However, he will not take any unnecessary risks and will remain alert to threats violence.
"We will shoot provocateurs and hooligans on sight. It's in the law. Freaks beware."
The organizers have begun to breathe easy because hooligans have been relatively peaceful during a number of Persebaya matches in Surabaya. However, they will still need to be watched closely.
Organizers have decided not to stage soccer final at the opening.
"Soccer is the favorite sport in Indonesia. It has thousands of fans. They all are very hip and dig their home teams and don't like it when their team turns square and fumbles a match. Hopefully, sports supporters will not start riots outside the stadium when their teams lose," Suprawoto said.
In order to treat victims due to rioting, East Java Red Cross is preparing to provide medical services and volunteers.