IPOH, Sept 13 — The organisers of Perak’s 19th Malaysian Games (Sukma) today refuted allegations that they provided sub-par lodging for badminton athletes at a training institute’s dormitory.

Perak Youth and Sports Executive Committee chairman Howard Lee Chuan How called the allegations “baseless”, after athletes and coaches at the venue told officials that they were dissatisfied with the venue.

This comes after Malay daily Berita Harian reported that many teams had left the accommodation quarters in Ipoh’s Industrial Training Institute (ILP) due to its allegedly poor condition.

The report claimed that this included broken lockers and unusable bathrooms, and featured pictures of athletes appearing to sleep on the floor.

Advertisement

However, Lee said interviews carried out by his team and the accommodation management body Perak Development Corporation (PKNP) found otherwise.

“After speaking to them, we found that the athletes and contingents are satisfied with the service of the Head Venue and the available facilities,” he told a press conference at the Sukma media centre here today.

“The lockers have graffiti on them, but they are functioning. And the athletes lowered their mattresses to the floor themselves so they could sleep next to each other in solidarity.”

Advertisement

During the press conference, Lee also showed video interviews with members of the Kelantanese contingent who expressed their satisfaction with the venue.

Lee admitted that one or two of the toilets were clogged, but stressed that the state was working to fix the problem rapidly.

At the same time, he said 15 mobile toilets had also been provided for the use of those staying at the ILP dormitory.

The report, which was also published by Harian Metro, said only badminton athletes from Kelantan, Perlis, Pahang and Sarawak remained at the ILP, while other teams had left, choosing to stay at budget hotels or homestays with the help of their respective state excos or sports councils.

The report also quoted Kelantan Badminton Association president Naharuddin Hashim as saying that they were concerned about the living quarters, especially since Perak would be hosting the Paralympic games in the same place.

He claimed that the ILP was an alternative location after the earlier venues were rejected for also being in bad shape.

Lee did not deny that some contingents had chosen to stay in homestays, but stressed that this was based on their own preferences for comfort.

“We found out some contingents sent teams to homestays, especially for athletes participating in elite sports. That’s not our approach for Perak but they did it for their own comfort,” he said.

Lee reiterated that the ILP venue had been chosen as a drastic measure, after the previous accommodation venue in Sekolah Izzuddin Shah (SIS) had to be closed.

“The badminton contingent was supposed to be placed at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Tapah. However, a study done among the team managers showed that they preferred to stay in Ipoh,” he said.

Lee took a non-confrontational stance when asked about the source of the complaints, asserting that he preferred to focus on solving the problem.

“I think the source was irresponsible but I don’t want to go into that. I’m not going to investigate further because I want to solve the problem,” he said.

“We are trying our best. We are not perfect, but we must rectify incorrect information.”