Slow progress in venues for National Games

Nurni Sulaiman ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Balikpapan   |  Thu, 03/13/2008 12:11 PM  |  Sports

With the National Games in East Kalimantan just four months away, organizers said Wednesday construction of some venues was behind schedule, hinting at a possible delay of the event.

Games organizing committee executive chairman Syaiful Teteng said at least four venues in Balikpapan -- the shooting range, squash hall, tennis court and rowing track -- might not be ready in time for the scheduled July 6 start of the Games.

"The construction work just started in December. We need to speed up construction. Otherwise, we might see a possible delay," Syaiful said.

Any delay, he said, would be costly for provinces sending athletes to the event.

West Java province said earlier it was spending Rp 500 million per month to prepare its athletes for the Games.

The province urged organizers to start the event on time, saying it could not bear the extra expenses that would result from a delay.

"We will do our utmost to finish the projects on time. The companies in charge of the construction of the venues have promised to finish all the venues in May," he said.

He said he had contacted the East Kalimantan Public Works Agency and other agencies to help monitor progress in the field.

The Games, scheduled for July 6-17, will be held in seven cities in the province -- Samarinda, Kutai Kartanegara, Balikpapan, Bontang, East Kutai, Berau and Tarakan, with Samarinda to host most the events (19).

Syaiful said the province has allocated Rp 485 billion (US$52.7 million) to host the Games, and was expecting another Rp 44 billion from the state budget.

"We think we are still in need of an extra Rp 500 billion to be able to hold the Games," he said.

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