SSC sets criteria to prioritise new sports facilities

KUCHING: The Sarawak Sports Corporation ( SSC) has a long list of requests for sports facilites and have to prioritise each application based on a set of criteria.

“We prioritise on which sports to cater for (first) while we never forget the rest (in the list).

“However, there must be justifications in providing sports facilities for we do not want white elephants, said SSC Divisional Development Facilities manager Gordon Hon Chun Kiat.

“It is also based on how active the association is in organising events which in turn also contributes to sports tourism to put Sarawak on the international or world map.

“For example, sports like squash is very active as it has organised many events as the facilities we built is put to good use.

“They have to show us if they had won medals at major competitions or their year round activities and development programme which can justify their request,” he added.

“Also the wushu centre project is viable as the State always support them as they had been champion many times while for cricket and rugby, there is no proper ground for many years for these two sports while the Song Kheng Hai rugby field is not a proper place for training or competitions,” said Hon.

High on the list is a Games Village which had been approved and tendered out and is expected to be completed next year.

It will consist of 500 hostel rooms, a multi- purpose hall, cafeteria and an elite centre for training.

When completed, Sarawak can host bigger events as the village can accommodate participants and officials rather than having them stay in hotels.

Others on the approved list by the Sarawak Government include a combat centre at the building of a rugby and cricket facilities.

Next on the list is a velodrome for cycling. SSC is also in the midst of taking over 30 sports venues in the districts and divisions such as Kapit, Betong and Miri which include swimming pools, sports stadia or tennis courts from the respective councils.