KUCHING, June 27 — Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) in Kota Samarahan will be transformed into a ‘Games Village’ for the 18th Sukma hosted by Sarawak from July 17 to 31.

Unimas will be ‘home’ for more than 5,000 athletes who are expected to arrive in Sarawak for the Sukma said Sarawak Sports Corporation (SSC) chief executive officer Dr Ong Kong Swee.

He said athletes from 15 state contingents and Brunei (participating as an invited team) will be arriving here in stages, starting July 15.

Dr Ong said about 1,000 technical officials would be housed at the Institute of Teachers Education (IPG) Tun Abdul Razak Campus in Kota Samarahan while officials would be staying at two hotels, namely Kuching Hilton and Hotel Margareta.

Dr Ong said all the venues were ready except for final preparations like installation of sound system, display board and lighting system at some venues, while other venues have been completed ahead of schedule.

“So far we are satisfied with the level of preparations at the venues in Kuching, Sibu and Miri,” Dr Ong told Bernama here today.

State Secretary Tan Sri Morshidi Abdul Ghani had said the state government had spent RM350 million to upgrade existing facilities and built new venues for the event held in Kuching, Sibu and Miri.

Most of the venues and facilities are already in use, including the main stadium (Sarawak Stadium) where the main events will be held.

Sarawak Youth, Sports and Unity Minister, Datuk Seri Michael Manyin Jawong said all existing courts and competition facilities had been upgraded to international standard and a new hockey pitch had also been built.

“To ensure every venue met the international specification, Sarawak had set up a committee to evaluate every competition venue,” said Manyin.

One of the new venues is the RM163 million Sarawak Aquatic Centre situated next to the Sarawak and State Stadium in Petra Jaya here, which will host swimming and diving events.

Besides the aquatic centre, a new lawn bowls venue beside Stadium Perpaduan was completed in April at a cost of RM6 million.

In addition, the Sarawak Squash Centre, built at a cost of RM7 million and the RM12 million archery range were also completed in April this year, as well as the region’s largest bowling centre, Megalanes Emart Batu Kawah Bowling Centre, in Kuching.

The newly completed facility which features 42-glossy lanes is now ready to host tenpin bowling while Sibu will host badminton and volleyball and Miri plays host to karate, sepak takraw and sailing.

The 18th Sukma will feature 24 sports — aquatics, archery, athletics, badminton, tenpin bowling, cycling, football, hockey, karate, lawn bowls, sailing, shooting, silat, squash, sepak takraw, taekwondo, weightlifting, wushu, volleyball, boxing, gymnastics, golf, petanque and tennis.

According to Dr Ong, among sports that will kick off early are football, rhythmic gymnastics, taekwondo and karate.

Sarawak who were the overall champions in 1990, 1992 and 1994 have set their sights firmly on wresting the title as athletes from the state will be competing in all 24 sports. — Bernama