Meeting with Jokowi, Acting Governor of North Sumatra Says There Are No Obstacles to PON Preparations

Friday June 14, 2024 – 00:44 WIB

JAKARTA Acting Governor (Pj) of North Sumatra Hassanudin attended a meeting with the President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo regarding preparations for the 21st Aceh-North Sumatra National Sports Week ( PON) at the State Palace in Jakarta, Thursday, June 13, 2024. .

On this occasion, Hassanudin reported on the various preparations that have been made and which so far have not encountered serious obstacles.

Hassanudin said that in June, preparations for the North Sumatra PB PON entered the final preparation stage. This phase focuses on accelerating the completion of venue construction, procurement of match equipment, preparation of human resources for events, logistics (availability, allocation and management of services) , medical care, security, IT, marketing, media and ceremonies.

“For all these things, we remain disciplined in orderly and efficient budget management, final preparations. God willing, there will be no serious obstacles,” Hassanudin said.

PON will be held in 87 days, to be precise on September 8, 2024. In North Sumatra, competitions will be held in 34 sports and 527 competition numbers. The match will take place at 36 venues across 10 districts/cities. It is estimated that more than 15,000 athletes and officials will compete in North Sumatra.

“We have prepared 96 hotels, or at least 8,000 rooms,” Hassanudin said.

Regarding the financing budget for the implementation of PON, Hassanudin explained that PB PON North Sumatra plans to find financing from APBD of around Rp1.6 trillion. The rest should receive support from the central government through the APBN.

“Where the budget is, we will allocate it towards the purchase of equipment, support for the closing event and the costs of the Panpel consisting of judges, referees, a panel of judges and other competition officials totaling more than 5,600 people,” Hassanudin said. .

Meanwhile, when opening the meeting, President Jokowi asked for a report on the preparations and emphasized that the implementation of PON XXI remained on schedule.

This afternoon's limited meeting continued discussions regarding preparations for the XXI PON which will be held in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and North Sumatra from September 8 to 20, 2024. This means that there are only 87 days left to make preparations. “I request the report,” said the President of the Republic of Indonesia.

At the press conference after the meeting, Menpora Dito Ariotedjo said that the president requested that the Aceh-North Sumatra PON remain on time. It ensures that there will be no setbacks in the PON schedule.

PON and Peparnas must be on time and there are no setbacks, PON and Peparnas are guaranteed not to be delayed and will be implemented on time according to schedule, for PON in Aceh and North Sumatra, development site progress is targeted to be all completed by the end of July and ready for use, now ensuring contingents across the province are “ready to compete and go and preparations for implementation by Aceh and North Sumatra regarding the opening and closing ceremonies,” Dito said.

Meanwhile, regarding the National Paralympic Sports Week (Peparnas), which was originally held in North Sumatra, it was replaced by Surakarta in Central Java. The Indonesian National Paralympics aspire for Peparnas to be held in Surakarta, as they already held the Asian Paragames some time ago.

“Because Surakarta was the host of the recent Asian Paragames, and all Paralympic venues and equipment are available in Surakarta, and as for accommodation and hotel facilities in Surakarta, they all have access standards for people with disabilities,” Dito said.