Abdul Karim (second left) and other guests giving the thumbs up for the aquatic centre.
KUCHING: The Pandelela Rinong Aquatic Centre is now open to the public. It was officially opened by Assistant Minister for Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah yesterday.
He said it is the first water theme park in Sarawak, albeit a mini one, which can be utilised by families for recreational activities.
“After the last Sukma, many facilities have been kept out of bound for public usage and we were trying to find ways in which the public can use the facilities.
“One of them is the aquatic centre, with a section for competitive swimming and another recreational area,” he told a press conference yesterday.
The government through the Sarawak Sports Council has selected Akademi Renang Bestari to be the operator of the centre.
Abdul Karim believed that the public recreational area is a good avenue for parents to bring their children for leisure and family bonding.
“Even organisations or departments can make arrangements to have family day outings here,” he added.
Meanwhile, Akademi Renang Bestari advisor Rahim Hamid Bugo said the academy aims to teach non-swimmers by getting as many children and adults into the Learn To Swim Programme.
“We have programmes for people of all ages. We will assist young people who want to swim competitively but had no opportunity to take part in training programmes, maybe because of cost, no access to swimming pool, no team.
“We aim to solve those problems. it will give young people the confidence to take part in sports they normally can’t take part in, opening up possibilities,” he said.
The academy is looking to work with the ministry to work out a training fee that is affordable for all.
“There are programmes that we planned to implement, one of them is to charge 50 percent of training fee for swimmers who qualify for the state age group swimming competition. If they qualify for national competition, training will be free,” he added.
When asked by reporters later, Pandelela’s father George Pamg believed the facility will be of much benefit to the public, especially parents whose children are interested in swimming.
“It took nine years to develop my daughter’s talent, since she was eight.
“Public pools such as this is very good and will be very helpful for training young talents,” said.
The Pandelela Rinong Aquatic Centre is open from 2pm to 8pm every Monday to Friday, while on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays the operating hours are from 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 8pm. Admission fee is RM2.50 for children aged between two to 17 and RM4 for adults aged 18 and above.
It is the fourth public pool in Kuching, besides those at MBKS, Stampark and the Youth and Sports Complex.