RIAU READY TO HOST NATIONAL SPORTS WEEK

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 17 (ANTARA) - The Sumatran province of Riau is now ready to host the four-yearly National Sports Week (PON) XIII, which will feature 39 sports and have 598 gold medals at stake, in September.          "The Province of Riau is now ready to organize PON XVIII on time. Youths and Sports Affairs Minister Andi Malarangeng has overseen the preparations and the sports festivals can be held on time," PON XVII Executive Chairman for Riau Syamsurizal said during the weekend.          "The sports week will begin on September 9 and last until September 20, 2012. The opening ceremony will be held on September 11, because the President will still be in overseas until then. However, the competitions will begin on September 9," he added.          Last week, Minister Andi visited the sports venues, including the seven sites where construction was earlier hampered due to time constraints.  The minister and his entourage also inspected the baseball, softball and fencing venues.          The sports week organizers said they were optimistic that the event would be held on time, although the construction of seven venues had yet to be completed.          PON VIII Deputy Executive Chairman Zulkifli Saleh stated that the committee had prepared alternative arenas to replace the seven venues if their construction did not finish on time.          "We have to pay attention to the construction of the venues but the focus is on [how to obtain more] funds,"  Zulkifli said, adding that the unfinished seven venues were those for baseball, shooting, sepak takraw, indoor volleyball, archery, wrestling  and billiards.      "For the billiard event, we can organize it in a hotel or use the previous facility," he said.          Zulkifli noted that the organizers were working hard to build the facilities. In order to save time, the government would invite tenders from private parties for provision of various equipment and services. The organizers might even lease equipment used in previous events.         The sporting events will be held in different districts of Riau, as well as in the provincial capital city of Pekanbaru.         Pekanbaru had started its preparations for the sports week a year ago. Last year, Pekanbaru Mayor Herman Abdullah applauded his government¿s efforts to make the city ready for the event. "We are now working on the Siak III and IV bridges," he said.         "Infrastructures such as roads, airport and bridges must be ready. The mayoral government has completed a number of infrastructure-related tasks under its responsibility, such as land clearance for Siak bridge construction. Now it is the task of the provincial government to complete it," Herman added.          He also cited the example of Siak IV bridge, in which the land clearance was done by the mayoral government and local residents had already received compensation. "The same is true in the case of Siak III. The provincial government has said the construction of the bridge will be completed soon, but it would be better if it does so earlier," Herman said.         ¿The two bridges that connect the various venues on Jalan Sudirman in Pekanbaru should have been completed and fully functional well before the sports events took place. The Siak bridges must be given priority. Moreover, Siak I, which connects Pekanbaru and Rumbai district, is already 33 years old. People fear that it could collapse anytime when it is used," he added.         Meanwhile, Syamsurizal said the province of Riau was ready to organise the opening ceremony, and preparations for the event were running well. He added that his team also cooperated with the organizers of the SEA Games, held in Palembang, South Sumatra, not long ago.          Regarding the development of the seven sports venues, he noted that the preparations were running smoothly.          "Based on the organizers¿ evaluation, we concluded that all parties responsible for the preparations of the venues are now ready to carry out their respective tasks for the sports events," Syamsurizal said.          He pointed out that the technical teams involved in the preparations of the event had also expressed conviction that Riau was ready to host the competitions. "In order to overcome transportation problems, traffic jams in particular, we have coordinated with traffic police," he stated.          To support the organizers, Sysmsurizal added, the committee had trained about 5,000 people to help in the smooth implementation of PON XVIII.          Riau province is poised to win at least 60 gold medals. It was earlier said the National Sports Week XIII would feature 55 sports events and there would be 555 gold medals, 555 silvers and 729 bronze medals at stake.         According to the Indonesian National Sports Committee (KONI) for Riau, the province's athletes are superior in certain sports.          "We set ourselves a target of grabbing 60 gold medals. We have athletes who are excellent in sepak takrau, rowing, weightlifting, bodybuilding, and several other sports," KONI chairman for Riau Yuherman Yusuf said.          However, he noted that Riau province had never been the overall champion at the event. Compared with Jakarta, Riau lags far behind, with the country¿s capital having been the overall champion 10 times.          "But we are eager to give the best results to the people of Riau with our professional athletes," Yuherman said.          He added that the athletes of Riau province were mentally and physically well prepared, so they were expected to make the Riau people proud.***3*** (T.A014/INE/B003) 17-07-2012 20:40: