T

he city administration’s plan to give bonuses to Jakarta’s medal-winning athletes at the recently concluded 2018 Asian Games was scrapped from its draft revised budget at a meeting on Monday with the regional
budgetary body.

“We do not want our athletes to be complacent with too many bonuses. What we want is to push their fighting spirit,” Jakarta Youth and Sports Agency head Ratiyono told the press on Monday on the sidelines of the meeting at the City Council in Kebon Sirih, Central Jakarta.

Instead, the agency has planned to follow the instructions stipulated in Governor Decree No. 1203/2018 on the budget for sports and youth activities and rewards for achievements, which was signed in August. The decree states that the city government will grant Rp 300 million (US$20,147) each to gold medalists, Rp 150 million to silver medalists and Rp 90 million to bronze medalists.

Even though the administration decided to scrap the additional bonuses, the council’s Commission E overseeing welfare issues recommended that the Jakarta Youth and Sports Agency give a bonus of Rp 750 million for gold medalists, Rp 500 million for silver medalists and 150 million for bronze medalists.

The commission also recommended that the athletes be formally labeled as civil servants.

“Rewards for athletes, such as monetary gifts and the opportunity to be civil servants, are needed to keep them motivated […] and prevent them from moving to other provinces,” the written recommendation said.

Ratiyono, however, said that a generous bonus had already been given by the central government before the Asian Games concluded in early September.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Youth and Sports Minister Imam Naharwi had given gold medalists Rp 1.5 billion (US$100,789) each, silver medalists Rp 500 million and bronze medalists Rp 250 million. The cash bonuses were tax-free.

The bonuses were presented to the athletes before the closing ceremony of the Asian Games on Sept. 2 because the President wanted to hand them out “before the sweat of the athletes dried up”.

Ratiyono compared the amounts in bonuses to those given by other countries. The Philippines, he said, gave around Rp 1.6 billion to their gold medalists, Hong Kong gave Rp 3.5 billion and Malaysia gave Rp 280 million.

“South Korean [athletes] were exempted from military conscription, because they fought for their country [in the Asian Games],” he said. “Even Japan did not give any bonuses to their athletes, because fighting for their country is a citizen’s honor […], an obligation for each citizen.”

Ratiyono thus concluded that the bonuses already handed out by Indonesia were fair.

Christopher Rungkat, a tennis player who won gold in mixed doubles at the Games, declined to talk about the new development when asked for comment.

At the 2018 Asian Games, athletes from Jakarta won 10 gold medals, 11 silvers and nine bronzes. In total, Indonesia won 31 golds, 24 silvers and 43 bronzes.

During Monday’s meeting, Jakarta Council deputy speaker Mohamad Taufik expressed disappointment over the cancelation of the plan.

“Jakarta is a big province. We have a regional budget of Rp 80 trillion,” he said.

In its revised budget proposal, the Jakarta administration proposed capital injection for a number of region-owned enterprises (BUMD), including developer PT Jakarta Propertindo and water provider PD AM Jaya.

The administration also proposed additional capital injection of more than Rp 2 trillion for PT Jakarta Propertindo, some of which was to be allocated for the building of the second phase of the light rapid transit (LRT). For PD AM Jaya, the administration proposed more than Rp 1 trillion.