By Ling Hui
KUCHING, Nov 30: The idea of converting SMK Demak Baru into a sports school which is next to Sarawak Sports Village is feasible and cost-saving.
Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah pointed out that establishing a sports school from scratch could easily cost up to a billion ringgit and the project would have to be done in phases.
“We must have a sports complex with all the sports facilities to complete a sports school.
“Unlike us, other states will have to go through several phases to complete the training tracks and other facilities, and it may take five to 10 years to complete a sports school,” he said.
Adding on, he said, it made sense to develop SMK Demak Laut into a sports school as the Sarawak Sports Complex has all the relevant facilities including two stadiums, a shooting range, Wushu training centre, gymnasium and the High Performance Centre.
“Where can you get a place like this? The reason why we bring this up again is because we want to turn Sarawak into a sports powerhouse,” he asserted during a press conference before conducting an inspection of the Wushu Training and Competition Centre site at Petra Jaya here today.
Meanwhile, Abdul Karim also revealed that the Sarawak Youth Day celebration will be held on Dec 5 at the Asajaya Sports Complex and Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg has agreed to grace the event.
“Initially, it was supposed to be on Nov 17, but due to the recent increase in Covid-19 cases, it had to be postponed.
“Despite all that, we will be following all the SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures). It will not be like the previous Youth Day celebration with thousands of youths.
“This time, we will only have 1,000 youths with us because we do not want to create a new cluster from this event,” he added. — DayakDaily
