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ndonesian weightlifting associations and coaches are split on where the national training camp for the Olympic Games should be held.

Indonesian Weightlifting, Bodybuilding and Powerlifting Association (PABBSI) has proposed to Indonesian Gold Program (PRIMA), a government sports development program, holding the national training camp in Jakarta, while several national coaches have agreed saying Jakarta does not have the right ambiance for a focused training camp.

They have urged PRIMA to hold the national training camps in Lampung and Balikpapan, East Kalimantan as in the past couple of years. Some have even refused to come to Jakarta for training.

“We propose Jakarta as the only training camp because it will be easier for us and PRIMA to supervise the training program. The athletes will stay at the Century athletes’ hotel, which has a good standard in terms of food quality for the athletes,” PABBSI deputy chief Syafriadi told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Syafriadi said that the decision to hold the camp in Jakarta had received full support from all PABBSI provincial branches during the recent association congress.

“It will also mean that PRIMA will directly cooperate with Hotel Century in terms of payment. It also ensures that the association will not handle any money regarding training funding, other than pocket money for athletes — which is our regular job,” he added.

Gathering in one place, said Syafriadi, would ensure a better backup from medical officers necessary for elite athlete training.

“We will certainly invite all national coaches to the training in Jakarta. So, it is wrong to accuse us of trying to take away the athletes.”

Most elite weightlifters belong to the Lampung and Balikpapan training centers. These centers were established by the government to help produce more qualified athletes nationwide.

The association is now waiting for PRIMA’s approval of the training camp location and budget.

“We’ve proposed a training center budget for five men and seven women. Each athlete deserves Rp 170,000 (US$19) for accommodation and Rp 5 million in pocket money. We’ve also requested Rp 250 million for a try out for all elite athletes,” said Syafriadi, who managed the national team in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The five male weightlifters proposed are: Jadi Setiadi (56-kg), Eko Yuli Irawan (62-kg), Triyatno (69-kg), Deni (69-kg) and Sandow Waldemar Nasution (71-kg). The women are Uly Fatmasari and Siti Nafisah (48-kg), Citra Febrianti and Dewi Safiyri (53-kg), Okta Dwipramita (58-kg), Sinta Darmariani (69-kg) as well as Beti Feriani (75-kg).

Balikpapan-based national coach Lukman, however, argued that Jakarta would not provide a conducive atmosphere for athletes to stay focused during the training.

“We have decent facilities here. And we’ve shown that after the training camps in the provinces over the past few years, weightlifting has done really well,” Lukman said.

Indonesia started training camps in provincial sports centers in 2007. In 2008, however, the government decided to hold the weightlifting camp in Jakarta for the Beijing Olympics.

“We’ve been doing the training in provincial centers and as a result, we’ve won medals in world championships and maintained gold in the SEA Games,” Lukman said referring to Beijing Olympic bronze medalist, Eko, who won bronze in the men’s 62-kg category in the 2011 Paris World Championship and gold in an international multi-sport event, Universiade, in Shenzhen, China in the same year. In 2009, he also grabbed silver in the same class in the Goyang World Championship in South Korea.

Triyatno, who is also a Beijing Olympic bronze medalist in the men’s 62-kg category, won bronze medals in the 2010 World Championships in Antalya, Turkey, and Goyang.

“Jakarta does not have a good ambiance for a focused training camp, especially for the Olympics. They’ll live in a hotel and it is close to too many distractions in downtown Jakarta,” said Lukman.

Lampung-based national coach Imron Rosadi agreed saying he would not respond to the invitation to train in Jakarta should the camp be held in the capital.

“They [the association] said that the decision to move the camp to Jakarta was approved by all provincial offices. Come on, I don’t see any connection between provincial offices and the organizing of a national training camp.

“I don’t know what is happening with PABBSI nowadays,” he said, adding that he would rather handle his athletes in Lampung instead of joining a Jakarta camp.