Over 210 athletes for Sarawak Special Olympics
KUCHING: Two hundred and eleven participants from Kuching, Sibu and Miri will take part in the Special Olympics ( SO) Sarawak State Games to be held at Unimas Kota Samarahan and Riverside Bowling from Aug 17-20.
Welfare, Community Well Being, Women, Family, and Childhood Development Minister Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah announced this at a press conference in her office yesterday to launch the event logo.
They will compete in five sports namely track and field, bocce, swimming, tenpin bowling and footbal l. The event wil l also incorporate activities such as the Healthy Athletes Programme.
The minister also said a special unit for the development of all sports for disabled people in Sarawak will be formed under her ministry.
“We have reached an agreement with the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports for special needs sports to be placed under my ministry. We have prepared a working paper and will be presented in the cabinet to co- ordinate the structure and others including funding,” she revealed.
The new arrangement will see the Special Olympics, Deaflympic Games (Sopma) and other related events placed under one roof.
Fatimah is confident that this will be approved by the state cabinet.
The 5th edition of the SO is hosted by SO Kuching Branch. Its president Datin Dayang Mariani Abang Zain was also present at yesterday’s launch.