Sarawak needs own ‘Bukit Jalil' for sports development, says Karim
Sarawak sports minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the Sarawak Sports Complex in Petra Jaya is Malaysia's largest in size but lacks high-performance facilities. (Bernama pic)
PETALING JAYA : Sarawak needs to establish its own sports complex similar to KL Sports City in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, to produce world-class athletes, says state sports minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
Karim said such a sports complex must come complete with a high-performance centre which, he pointed out, was lacking at the Sarawak Sports Complex in Petra Jaya.
While the Petra Jaya complex is Malaysia's largest in size, he said, it lacked high-performance facilities and a velodrome for track cycling, DayakDaily reported.
'In order to advance in sports, we must have our own 'Bukit Jalil'. Bukit Jalil already have a high-performance centre, and Sarawak must have one, too,' he was quoted as saying.
Karim said proposals for such a centre to be set up in Sarawak were not new and had been floated years ago.
He said the state government has been actively working towards that direction, visiting top-performing countries like Australia and South Korea to set a benchmark for Sarawak's future facilities.
'We are identifying the right elements to include in our high-performance centre so that it can truly elevate our athletes to the next level,' he said.
Sarawak has produced some top Malaysian athletes over the years, including Olympic silver medallist diver Pandelela Rinong and two-time Paralympic gold medallist powerlifter Bonnie Bunyau Gustin.
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