On April 1, 2022, the Indonesian National Sports Committee (or KONI, Komite Olahraga Nasional Indonesia) of Papua was holding a working meeting to discuss reports and performance evaluations in 2021. They were also planning a program for 2022. The meeting was held for two days (1 – 2 April 2022) at their Secretariat House for Athletes, Mandala Sports Complex (or Kompleks Olahraga Mandala) in Jayapura, West Papua.
The committee chairman was Dantje Nere, S.Sos, M.Si. Nere had been intensively coordinating with all fields involved. Based on the early results so far, Nere admitted that he was very proud of the performance of the whole meeting committee.
The reason was that each sector, such as secretarial, consumption, transportation, security, public relations, and equipment – was almost ready by 90%.
“We’ve just finished an internal meeting. From the results of the joint meeting between the fields, each explained that they were almost ready by 90 percent,” Nere explained.
According to Nere, the working meeting with KONI in West Papua would be attended directly by the chairman from the central office themselves. The chairman of KONI’s Central Headquarters would also be the presenter at the Working Meeting.
He further explained that, in addition to the chairman of the central office, his party would also invite other chairmen of KONI from 28 regencies and one city. George Kaiba, the secretary of the Working Meeting, stated that they had circulated the invitations to make sure all parties would be able to attend and participate in the meeting.
There were several important issues to be discussed in the Working Meeting. In addition to the evaluation of the work program and the result of the National Sports Week XX (PON, Pekan Olahraga Nasional, XX) in 2021, Papua’s preparation for the next PON, which is PON XXI. This sports event will be held in Aceh, North Sumatra.
The Results of The Working Meeting
Muhammad Ridwan Rumasukun, the Regional Secretary of West Papua, encouraged the KONI Papua to provide guidance to the athletes in their region. According to him, that would include maintaining the government facilities for the progress of the Papuan athletes’ performance in the future.
The General Secretary of KONI Papua, Kenius Kogoya, stated that the working meeting discussed the KONI Papua’s annual programs.
“Essentially, this Working Meeting discusses the achievement sports coaching program. Then it will also ratify and refuse several sports to become members of KONI. This includes the agreement on the timing of the provincial deliberation,” Kogoya added.
Meanwhile, Retired Mayor General of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI, Tentara Nasional Indonesia), Suwarno, works as the Deputy Head of the Central KONI. He stated that the Working Meeting could serve as an evaluation for PON XX and the preparation for the upcoming PON XXI.
“This working meeting is clearly a very strategic moment that will be first used as an evaluation for last year’s PON to this year’s PON,” Suwarno emphasized. Since all Papuans in KONI attended that Working Meeting, Suwarno delivered the meeting to discuss the management of KONI in West Papua.
“It is equally important that the management of KONI Papua will end this year so that the implementation of this Provincial Working Meeting can also discuss the deliberation of KONI. So, hopefully – from now on, we will have talked about the requirements for the future candidates to be the next chairman, including the whole committee too,” Suwarno also added.
About KONI
The Indonesian National Sports Committee (KONI, Komite Olahraga Nasional Indonesia) is the only organization authorized and responsible for managing, fostering, developing, and coordinating all sports activities and performances for each member in Indonesia.
KONI has 34 provincial members of KONI, with 514 KONI Regencies/Cities under them, with 71 sports parent organizations and six functional organizations.
KONI has the main tasks of planning, coordinating, and implementing coaching and improving the performance of the athletes, referees, coaches, and managers. All of these are to realize national sports achievements towards international achievements.
KONI is an independent and non-governmental body. This means that any sports activities they run to return to the community. But KONI works as a partner to the government when it comes to running sports activities. KONI is not controlled by any groups or parties and is free from political interests.
Sports Events During The Covid-19 Pandemic
The Covid-19 pandemic is still far from over, although some regulations regarding health protocols in Indonesia have been slightly loosened lately. This year 2022, Omicron is still the latest variant of Coronavirus haunting the nation.
Of course, the importance of health protocols should be part of the consideration regarding sports events. These days, health protocols help people feel much safer and less worried when they want to attend public events, from live music concerts to sports events.
Hopefully, PON XXI will be as successful and safe as PON XX in West Papua. KONI Papua will do their best.
