Shooting range not a white elephant — Dr Ong
KUCHING: The Sarawak Shooting Range at the Sarawak Stadium Complex has not turned into “a white elephant” after the hosting of Sukma 2016 by Sarawak as alleged by certain quarters, says Sarawak Sports Corporation chief executive officer Dr Ong Kong Swee.
In response to the allegations, Ong said various programmes and activities have been organised to maximise the usage of the facility concerned.
“The public do not understand that we have been using the facility as much as possible after moving from the former shooting range at Batu Kawa last year.
“Early this year, our coaches have carried out various development programmes for athletes who are divided into elite, excellence and development groups,” he said.
There are 24 athletes in the elite programme, 41 in the excellence programme and 73 in the development programme respectively.
According to Ong who is also the director of the Sarawak State Sports Council ( MSNS), various programmes will be implemented at the Sarawak Shooting Range to produce young and talented shooters as preparation for various national competitions such as Sukan Malaysia (Sukma) 2020.
The athletes are trained and coached by six coaches headed by newly appointed Leong Wai Si from Perak. The other coaches are Ahmad Anai, Vincent Goh Kim Seng, Sorea Tiror, Agnes Taji and Eylanda Well.
The training sessions are carried out every Tuesday while on Sunday it is from 8am until 6pm.
“From these programmes, we have a big pool of shooters who can represent the state for at least five years.
“The average age of our athletes is under 19 with the majority of them students coming from Kuching and its surrounding areas. They are using the shooting range for training after school hours including Saturdays and Sundays.
“We are planning to get more coaches as there are many disciplines such as pistol, air rif le and so on,” said Ong who added that SSC is also planning to build a skeet and trap range next year so that Sarawak can host international championships in the future. He said Sarawak will be hosting the Sportexcel/NSC/ Milo/NSAM Malaysia and Chia Who Trophy from Sept 10-15.