Mohamad Morshidi Abdul Ghani
SIBU: Sarawak is all set for the 2016 SUKMA XVIII, slated to commence here on July 22 to 31.
State Secretary Tan Sri Mohamad Morshidi Abdul Ghani said, everything was well in place to make sure that the state could repeat its grandeur running of the games that had made it popular in the country.
“The last time we organized it was 26 years ago. Sarawak started the grandeur running of SUKMA and we hope to repeat it this time around,” he said and added he was happy with the preparation made by the organizing committee he was heading.
Mohamad Morshidi spoke to pressmen after officiating the pre-launching of Sibu Indoor Stadium at Old Airport Road, here today.
He said, the state had spent almost RM400 million to build new sports facilities for events that included aquatic, lawn bowl, shooting, squash, hockey and had refurbished the Stadium Sarawak.
He stressed that the facilities were not for SUKMA only but a long-term investment to create champions of tomorrow for Sarawak.
To date he said, most of the hotels had been fully booked, including homestays and vehicles for rent.
“Apart from the locals, we expect to see family members of the athletes from other states as well as Brunei to come over to watch the games,” he said.
Head of State Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud will grace the opening of the games at Stadium Sarawak on July 23 while Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will close it on July 31.
A total of 19 games will be competed in Kuching and Samarahan while Sibu will be the venue for badminton and volleyball and Miri will be the battleground for karate, sepak takraw and sailing. – Bernama