Sarawak to acquire 10 hectares for shooting range expansion ahead of 2027 Sea Games

KUCHING (Feb 13): Sarawak will acquire about 10 hectares of private land to expand its shooting range facilities as part of preparations for the 2027 Southeast Asian Games (Sea Games), said State Minister for Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.

He said the additional land is needed to build skeet and trap facilities, which are currently unavailable at the existing shooting range located at the Sarawak Sports Complex in Petra Jaya.

“We already have the static shooting facilities, but we do not have facilities for skeet and trap. That is why we need to acquire approximately 10 hectares of private land next to the existing range,” he said.

Abdul Karim said this at a press conference after receiving a courtesy call from Federal Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Mordi Bimol at his ministry’s office here on Friday.

He said a briefing on the land acquisition and other upgrading works would be presented to the Sarawak Premier on the 20th of this month to expedite the process, adding that several cabinet papers involving infrastructure development for the Sea Games would also be tabled at the end of the month.

He stressed that Sarawak’s commitment towards upgrading sports facilities is “right up to the fullest”, noting that contractors are required to complete works at least three months before the Games to allow athletes to familiarise themselves with the venues.

Karim said Sarawak will host 17 sports while Kuala Lumpur will stage 14, with improvements ongoing at multiple venues including tennis, cricket and wushu facilities.

“For tennis, the courts are already very, very good. The upgrading will be more on the gallery, seating areas, holding rooms, VIP rooms, the canteen and the floodlights. So it will not affect the courts,” he explained.

On cricket, he said high-mast floodlights are necessary as matches for both the men’s and women’s events may run from morning until night due to limited fields.

Meanwhile, Malaysia Sea Games Organising Committee (Masoc) 2027 chief operating officer Datuk Abdul Rashid Yaakub said test events would be held for selected sports as part of standard preparation practice.

“From 38 sports, maybe we will choose around eight, nine or 10 sports. Some in Sarawak, some in Kuala Lumpur and maybe one or two in Penang. But we have not selected the sports yet because many facilities are still being upgraded,” he said.

On funding, Abdul Karim clarified that Sarawak and the federal government would each bear RM350 million for organisational costs, excluding infrastructure expenditure, which the state will finance separately.

“RM350 million is to be taken up by the federal government. RM350 million to be taken up by Sarawak. For just the organising, not for infrastructure. The infrastructure we are doing is with our own state coffers,” he said.

He added that Sarawak had formally signed a deed of guarantee committing the state to its share of the cost, which was later presented to the Federal Cabinet.

Mordi, in his remarks, assured continued federal support for Sarawak’s preparations.

He added that Sarawak had formally signed a deed of guarantee committing the state to its share of the cost, which was later presented to the Federal Cabinet.

Mordi, in his remarks, assured continued federal support for Sarawak’s preparations.

“We give full trust to Dato Sri Abdul Karim as the head of the organising committee. And we will give full support to Sarawak and assist with whatever we can at the federal level,” he said.