Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Indonesian Ministry of Youth and Sports is currently mapping out abandoned sports facilities across the country to revitalize and reopen them for public use.
Youth and Sports Minister Erick Thohir said the effort is being conducted alongside several other ministries to ensure state-funded sports assets do not deteriorate.
“Not all, but many sports facilities built everywhere at huge expense are now idle. They were built using public money,” he said during the 2026 Indonesia Sports Summit in Jakarta on Friday.
The Ministry of Youth and Sports is coordinating with the Ministry of Home Affairs and other relevant agencies to inventory facilities that remain usable and require management support.
The government is also awaiting regulations from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Public Works to enable joint management of these assets with third parties.
According to him, a significant number of sports facilities currently sit idle, though the exact figure remains unconfirmed as the mapping process is still ongoing.
The ministry is also incorporating well-maintained and usable private facilities into its national sports ecosystem mapping.
Erick cited Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex and the Bali United Academy as examples of venues with effective management and strong public access.
To ensure optimal utilization, the government aims to avoid constructing new sports facilities without a clear plan for their future use.
Erick noted that President Prabowo Subianto has instructed that all future sports facility developments include a detailed roadmap to prevent newly built assets from being abandoned.
A similar policy is being applied to the National Sports Week (PON), which is prioritizing the use of existing venues over building new ones.
“There will be no new construction. We are using the existing ones. This is crucial because too much public money has been wasted on facilities that end up unused,” the minister remarked.
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Translator: Muhammad Ramdan, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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