SIBU: The Ministry of Youth, Sports, and Entrepreneur Development (MYSED) is looking into building more extreme sports facilities or skate plaza such as the Sibu Active Youth Space (SAYS) for youth throughout the state.
Its Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said that such facilities have been requested by many, especially the youth.
“The youth, including my deputy minister in his speech, are asking for the other big towns in Sarawak to be considered to have this kind of facilities.
“In Sibu, we have SAYS, which is the largest (extreme sports facilities). We do have one in Kuching but unlike the ones here in Sibu.
“Thus, we are planning to have one (extreme sports facility) in the Sarawak Sports Complex, and we have a plan to propose that,” he said in a press conference after officiating the MYSED Extreme Game Challenge here today.
However, Abdul Karim also noted that the building of such facilities would depend on the number of enthusiasts of the extreme sport in the area or cities concerned.
“If there are fans of this sport in those cities, we will consider providing facilities like this. The cost is not that big, but it helps a lot to gather the youth who have an interest in this sport,” he said.
“Besides Kuching, another area that we think is suitable to have this kind of facilities is in Bintulu as I believe many are into this kind of extreme sports.
“We hope we can see this soon, in the next one year, and then consider providing more of such facilities for the youth,” he said.
SAYS at Dataran Tuanku Haji Bujang Fasa II is a RM2.5 million park fully funded by the state government.
It has a 15-metre wide and 100-metre long skate plaza that can be utilised by skateboarders, rollerbladers and BMX extreme sports enthusiasts.
SAYS is the longest of its kind in Sarawak which is designed through engagements with local youths and can be used to organise international tournaments.
