KOTA BARU, Sept 22 — The Kelantan government has requested an allocation of RM291 million from the Ministry of Youth Sports (KBS) to upgrade infrastructure and sports facilities in the state.
State Youth, Sports and NGO Committee chairman Wan Roslan Wan Hamat said the request was made ahead of the state’s bid to host the 22nd Malaysian Games (Sukma) in 2022.
“We have already applied for this RM291 million allocation to KBS, which includes provisions to build an indoor stadium in the state, among other facilities,” he said.
He was speaking to reporters after attending the opening of the Titans Sports Day 2019, organised by UNITAR International University (UNITAR) at the Kota Bharu Schools Sports Complex here today which was also attended by ANS Institute of Technology chief executive officer Mohd Nasir Idris and Unitar manager Ramlan Awang Omar.
Wan Roslan said of the proposed allocation, 70 per cent would be used to repair existing sports infrastructure and facilities and another 30 per cent would be used to build new infrastructure.
“We do not want everything to be new, now, we already have a badminton stadium, the Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium (football) is already there, but when we have the required allocation, we can renovate them,” he said.
Meanwhile, Wan Roslan said he was ready to receive advice and guidelines from the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) regarding the Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium which was identified as having no certificate of completion and compliance (CCC), or better known as a certificate of fitness (CF).
“If we look at it our way, the stadium is complete and in good standing, but we are prepared to do what needs to be done to meet the criteria set to prevent unwanted incidents from occurring,” he said.
News reports previously quoted a statement from JBPM that 13 of the 21 major stadiums across the country were found to be at risk of unintended incidents as they did not possess CCCs as they were more than 20 years old, and did not meet the current safety criteria.
The list of notable stadiums include the Pasir Gudang Municipal Stadium, Tunku Abdul Rahman Stadium, Manjung Municipal Stadium, Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium, Tuanku Syed Putra Stadium, Bandaraya Stadium, Likas Stadium, Sarawak State Stadium, and the Petaling Jaya City Council Stadium. — Bernama
