By Shikin Louis
KUCHING, Sept 20: Nineteen hotels around Kuching are set to host as sports village for the Para Malaysia Games (Para Sukma) 2024.
Sarawak Minister for Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development (KPWK) Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah said the accommodations were chosen by taking into account the needs of the para athletes and venues of the competitions.
“This is a big challenge for us (Sarawak) as the host to ensure that not only the venue where the competition is held, but also the accommodations is OKU-friendly,” she said during the opening ceremony of Para Sukma 2024 Sports Village held at Raia Hotel & Convention Centre here today.
The list of hotels for the athletes are Hock Lee Hotel & Residence for para athletics and para archery, Harbour View (para athletics), 56 Hotel (para badminton), Raia Hotel (para chess and boccia), UCSI Hotel (para lawn bowls), Serapi Vendure Hotel (para powerlifting), Regatta Suites (para swimming), Citadines Uplands (para tenpin bowling) and Grand Continental Hotel (para ping pong).
The 10 remaining hotels will accommodate the chefs-de-mission (CDMs), assistants chef-de-mission (ACDM), sports managers and officers.
They are Imperial Hotel, Riverside Majestic & Astana Wing, Kuching Park Hotel, Roxy Hotel Batu 3, Kingwood Hotel, Penview Hotel, Merdeka Palace, Long House, Samudra Hotel Kuching and Hua Kuok Inn Oyo.
Fatimah who is also the responsible minister for Para Sukma 2024, further said that the updated total number of para athletes from 15 participating contingents is 1,275 persons.
“Meanwhile, there are 50 backup para athletes and 719 technical officers, bringing the number of participants in Para Sukma 2024 to 2,044,” she added.
Para Sukma 2024 will commence from Sept 22 to 28, with 328 events across 10 sports to be contested, namely para athletics (134 events), para swimming (60), para powerlifting (24), para chess (23), para tenpin bowling (22), para lawn bowls (20), para ping pong (15), para archery (14), para badminton (13), and boccia (9).
The venues will vary, with the para athletics events scheduled to be held at the Sarawak Stadium (new building) and Sarawak State Stadium (old building), para tenpin bowling – Megalanes Emart Batu Kawa, para archery – Archery Range Petra Jaya, para chess – Raia Hotel, boccia – Dewan Persatuan Bola Keranjang Sarawak Kuching, para swimming – Pandelela Rinong Aquatic Centre, para badminton – Dewan Persatuan Badminton Sarawak at BDC, para lawn bowls – Petra Jaya Multipurpose Arena, para ping pong – SJK Chung Hua No. 3, and para powerlifting – Multipurpose hall at Sarawak Youth and Sports Department.
She also called on members of the public to come and show their support to the athletes, as entrance is free. — DayakDaily
