SPORTS TOURISM: Dawos meets the riders in the Stungkor motocross open championship last May.
KUCHING: An International standard Bicycle Track has been planned to be constructed in Lundu.
Deputy Minister of Tourism, Datuk James Dawos Mamait said that at the moment it is still in the ‘rolling plan’ as his ministry are still looking for the suitable site to construct the track.
“ There’s more to building a trail than just moving rocks and dirt. Trails are usually part of larger systems that is the result of careful and diligent planning and collaboration. These trail system must serve the needs of multiple user groups and take environmental and geographical factors into account,” Dawos explained.
He revealed that to build the trail it must comply to the official list of mountain biking rules of the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA).
“These mountain bike rules are designed to minimise our impact on the environment as well as promoting friendly relationships between all trail users by creating a safe environment for all.
Therefore after identifying suitable location for the trails a working paper will be forwarded to the Land and Survey department for processing,” Dawos said when officiating at the closing ceremony of the MPP cup football final on Sunday.
According to him the availability of international standard sport facilities will help boost the local sports tourism industry.
He added that sports tourism industry contributed 20 per cent to tourism industry total revenue.
“International sports’ events like the Le Tour De Langkawi, Sepang Formula 1 race and International Junior Tennis championship, to name a few, reap millions of ringgit forthe tourism industry. And if international standard bicycle trails could be built in Lundu it will stimulate not only the state’s tourism industry but will raise the socio-economy of the locals,” Dawos suggested.
He also said that he had suggested to the local agencies and authorities to identify sports events that could attract international participants and submit a working paper to the ministry of tourism for fund to set up basic infrastructure for the event.
“Padawan raft safari would be a good example, when it was first introduced only the locals competed in the events, now it had started to attract international participants and the communities that help to organise the event benefited from it through their sales of handicrafts, food and drinks,” commented Dawos.