Harvest Festival celebration damages football field

PENAMPANG: The staging of the district Harvest Festival celebration has heavily damaged Padang Siol in Kampong Hungab and this has deprived youngsters of the field for their football or other sporting sessions, according to Parti Warisan Sabah coordinator for Kampong Guunsing, Penampang, Raphael Sinumbong.

“As a resident in the area I am simply wondering why the field has been used for the district Harvest Festival celebration since such function could be held at the Tun Fuad Stephen’s community center or even at the district’s cultural center just behind the district office,” he said.

He pointed out that the use of the football field for the celebration required the erection of tents for the people as well as other fittings which are necessary, namely lighting and the provision for a stage to hold the beauty pageant.

“The condition of the field is very bad at this stage and it would certainly require a long period to allow the grass to grow, as well as to level up the surface.

“The damage was caused by heavy machinery used to transport metal fittings and could have been avoided if the machinery were not allowed to enter the field,” said Raphael.

He said the other issues the organizers, the Penampang District Council, should have considered were the safety of the revelers and parking areas for vehicles.

“Padang Siol is fronted by the busy Penampang By-pass and the parking of vehicles along the road not only resulted in congestion but also affected the safety of revelers who had to cross either side of the highway.

“I believe the Penampang Cultural Center has ample parking spaces and there would have been no need to build tents or other fixtures as the celebration could be held indoor.

“Maybe the organizers may have been concerned with the crowd but this should not be the case since Harvest Festival celebrations have always drawn big crowd.

“I wish to stress here that the football field was meant for residents in Kampong Hungab and its surrounding areas to use for their football or other sporting activities and it is simply puzzling to see concentration of activities involving football tournaments by outsiders most of the time.”

Raphael also said the heavy use had deprived youngsters the opportunity to excel in the purpose it was meant for and it is therefore not surprising that Hungab is no longer producing quality football players as in previous years where Herman Limus, Lim Thau Pang, Shashi Pandikar and Paddy Edwin played at the state level.

He said the Penampang District Office must now restore the condition of the field to a level suitable for football and other sporting activities as soon as possible and also ensure that future celebrations are held either at the Tun Fuad Stephen’s center or at the Cultural Board center.

“The use of either of the two sites could probably save the organizers sufficient funds to hold programs beneficial to the community,” he added.