Wismoyo regrets YLKI's call on sticker payment

Wismoyo regrets YLKI's call on sticker payment

JAKARTA (JP): The president of the 19th SEA Games Organizing
Committee, Wismoyo Arismunandar, said yesterday that the
Indonesian Consumers Foundation should not urge people to boycott
paying for Games stickers.

Wismoyo said: "The agency should not make such a call. The
sticker sales extension was made with the President's approval.
They don't realize that without the stickers we won't get any
money. They shouldn't exaggerate the issue."

"I understand that the organizers must give transparent
reports but how transparent they are is up to them," he said.

Minister for Social Services Inten Soeweno has extended the
sticker sales until Dec. 31.

The agency called on the public Tuesday not to pay for
stickers when they paid their telephone, water and electricity
bills.

The call was provoked by the fact that the Games consortium
has yet to issue transparent reports on its budgeting.

The foundation also urged the consortium to publish the
reports.

But Wismoyo said the sticker sales might be extended even
longer if its is deemed necessary.

"We can extend the sticker sales for more than three months,
which will end in December. It depends on how much we still need
to cover our expenses for the Games," said Wismoyo, who is also
the National Sports Council chairman.

The consortium's executive director, Bambang Yoga Sugama, said
Monday that the consortium would give transparent reports as soon
as its financial reports had been audited.

The consortium originally expected to receive Rp 35 billion
(US$9,722,223) from the sticker sales, to help meet the Rp 105
billion budget to stage the just completed Games and finance the
national training.

The organizers will discuss all the problems in their plenary
meeting on Oct. 28.

Separately yesterday, the organizers' treasurer, Setya
Novanto, said that the organizers had paid the bills at the 35
hotels which accommodated athletes during the Games.

"Some hotels outside Jakarta still need to finish their
administration work but we have prepared all the money," said
Novanto, who is also the council's treasurer.

But Joko S. Tjandra, a director of the Hotel Mulia Senayan,
said that the payment had yet to finalized because the consortium
did not have enough money.

"The payment for the Hotel Mulia and Hotel Atlet Century Park
has been delayed until the consortium receives the money from the
sticker sales," he said.

"We understand that the consortium is prioritizing the
athletes' training and the purchasing of sports equipment. Two
months before the Games started, we understood that the
consortium faced financial problems," he added.

About 1,800 athletes stayed in the hotel's 700 completed
rooms, excluding the VIP and the National Olympic Committee
guests.

Unlike other hotels, which charged $40 per person per night,
Hotel Mulia charged each athlete $80, inclusive of three meals.

"If I'm not mistaken, each athlete, with three meals, only had
to pay $80 net. I don't know how much the organizers have paid
and I don't doubt on the consortium's commitment to pay for the
accommodation." (yan)