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Oleh Astra Desita, Senin, 27 Juni 2016 | 10:21 WIB - Redaktur: Penni Patmawati Rusman - 1K
Jakarta, InfoPublik - The government through the Ministry of Youth and Sports guarantees that athletes who get international-level achievements will receive lifetime pensions.
Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi stated so after attending the event at the State Palace where President Joko Widodo sent off the Indonesian contingent to the 2016 Olympic Games by President Joko Widodo on Wednesday (6/22).
Minister Imam said that the lifetime pension allocation is a new history in the Indonesian sport. In the initial stage, the recipients are only those who won medals at the Olympic Games (since 1988).
Each gold medalist will receive a monthly allowance of Rp20 million, Rp15 million for silver medalists, and Rp10 million for bronze medalists. The allowance is effective for life.
"We have prepared the budget since early 2016, and we have launched the program 15 days ago in Jakarta. After calculating, the budget for the Olympic Games medalists from 1988 to 2012 is only $ 6 billion per year. It is a small number compared to their struggles and sacrifices,” said Imam.
In the future, the government is planning to cooperate with state-owned enterprises and the private sectors to facilitate settlement of the pensions to athletes who win medals in other international events besides the Olympic Games.
Meanwhile, Deputy IV for Sports Performance Improvement who also acts as the Head of Communications and Public Relations of the ministry, Gatot S Dewa Broto, mentioned that the legal basis of this allowance is the Youth and Sports Minister Regulation. As a result, this program will continue in effect even when there is a change in the government administration.
"It is already included in the regulation. In the future, we expect this to be regulated by a higher legislation, such as Law," said Gatot. (Translator: Erik Limantara)
