Minister: Some Sukma venues not fully completed but still usable

KOTA SAMARAHAN: Some venues for the 21st Malaysia Games (Sukma XXI) are not fully completed but are still usable, says Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.

The Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development acknowledged that some venues, which were hoped to be fully completed by the time of Sukma, did not meet the intended deadlines.

However, he assured that despite these venues not being fully completed, they are still usable.

“For example, the archery venue, where the toilets could not be fully completed. Since the toilets were not ready in time, we are using mobile toilets instead.

“But the essential infrastructure for archery, including the staging area and target setup, is fully prepared. The only unfinished aspect is the drainage and toilets, which I hoped would be completed on time.

“Despite the contractors working tirelessly day and night, they were unable to meet the final deadline. So the remaining work will be completed after Sukma. Nevertheless, the venue is still being used for archery,” he said.

He told the media this during a press conference after officiating the inauguration ceremony of the Sukma XXI Sports Village at DeTAR Putra, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) today (Aug 15).

On the same note, Abdul Karim said that the BMX cycling track is fully ready, although he noted that the grass patches could have looked better if the entire track appeared green.

“When viewed from a drone, it would have looked even better if everything was green, but we could only plant patches.

“It is considered ready, and the area where the cyclists start has been arranged as needed,” he added.

Regarding the hockey stadium, he confirmed that it was completed on Wednesday (Aug 14), acknowledging a slight delay in the arrival of the carpet for the stadium.

However, he said that as of Wednesday, everything is in place and ready for use.

“At this final stage, there are still some areas that need fine-tuning, particularly on the football fields in Bintulu and Sibu.

“But with the use of specialised machinery, everything is moving forward smoothly,” he said.