Welcome Guest   |  Login   |   Signup
JG Logo
Sat, May 26, 2012
Archive Search

Games Organizers Blame Red Tape As Caterers Get in Line for Late Pay
Ami Afriatni | December 22, 2011

Share This Page
0
0
0
0
Share with google+ :


Post a comment
Please login to post comment

Comments

Be the first to write your opinion!

It’s been a month since the Southeast Asian Games ended, but suppliers are still coming forward to complain they haven’t been paid.

Caterers that provided food for athletes and officials at West Java’s rowing and cycling venues said on Thursday that the Games’ organizer, Inasoc, still owed them Rp 320 million ($35,000).

“We gave them the bill when the Games ended, but they only paid us 20 percent of the Rp 400 million total,” said Muhammad Zikirman, a representative for the caterers. “They have yet to offer us an explanation as to why we have not been paid. ”

He said there were 10 caterers in West Java that provided daily meals for around 1,200 athletes and officials from 11 countries, including Indonesia, for 12 days.

“We worked hard to meet their demands,” he said. “They should have paid all the bills when the Games finished.”

Palembang and Jakarta co-hosted the regional SEA Games from Nov. 11-22, but the rowing and cycling events were held in West Java.

Last week, officials in South Sumatra revealed that the province still owed Rp 324.9 billion to Prambanan Dwipaka, the company that built the athletics stadium, aquatic center and shooting range. Inasoc has acknowledged that it owes Rp 60 billion to suppliers.

The organizer’s director of finance, Isnanta, said all the debts would be settled but it would take time because of the bureaucracy.

“The Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs has demanded that all contracts be verified, and after that we’ll pay the suppliers in three installments,” he said. “We promise that the verification process will be finished by the end of this month, so we’ll start paying them as late as next month.”

Inasoc’s media director, Linda Wahyudi, said the administrative process was complicated.

“There are four media and broadcasting vendors that have yet to be fully paid. I’ve been going back and forth to try to settle those debts but the administrative process is very rigid,” she said. “But I understand that the government has to be very careful with the money.”