PADAWAN: Sa’ati Kucing Team and Team Bukit Semuja 3 emerged as champions of the Men’s Open 32KM and Women’s 22KM categories respectively in the one-day Padawan Raft Safari 2019.
Batu Kitang assemblyman and Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) chairman Lo Khere Chiang presented the prizes to the winners yesterday at the Multipurpose Hall, Kampung Git on behalf of Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
In the Men’s Open 32KM category, Sa’ati Kucing Team was champion and went home with a cash prize of RM1,500. First runner-up Team Bukit Semuja 1 received RM1,300 while second runner-up Tebedu Mawang Gandong (TMG) RM1,000.
The Women’s 22KM category saw Team Bukit Semuja 3 coming out first while first and second runner-ups were Biro Wanita Kampung Git and Dayung UKT.
In the Hotels and Tour Agencies 22KM category, Detta Lodge Team A came first, BHR Ma Gaseng and Detta Lodge Team B were second and third respectively.
Bio-Pepak came first in the Government Agencies 22KM category while Team Bukit Semuja 2 took the second place and SK St Giles Git PIBG finished third.
For the above categories, all winners received cash prizes of RM1,000 (champions), RM700 (second) and RM500 (third) as well as trophies.
In the 40KM Kayak, Unimas Eco-Adventure Team, which came first, received RM500 while Naru’ Tupu, which came second, went home with RM300. Unimas 123 Lundus, which finished third, received RM200.
Lo who was happy with the public turnout yesterday said, “This community-based event really has brought a lot of people together.
“The purpose of this event is to promote tourism in Padawan to the public, especially to the visitors from foreign countries as well as to encourage the local community to be involved in it.”
He added that the Padawan Raft Safari had been held for 15 years since it was introduced in 2004.
“In conjunction with the Visit Sarawak 2019 campaign, the event can be a main attraction for foreign tourists as well as introduce Sarawak and Padawan to the world,” he said.
For the next edition of the safari, Lo hoped that the infrastructure in Kampung Git such as roads could be improved.
The one-day event yesterday started as early as 8am from Kampung Temurang. It passed throuhg Kampung Danu and finished at Kampung Git at 12 noon. A total of 26 teams participated in the Raft Safari competition which was divided into four categories.
It was held in conjunction with the annual What About Kuching (WAK) 2019 and the Visit Sarawak 2019 Campaign.
Also present were MPP deputy chairman Datuk Ahmad Ibrahim, organising chairman Cr Jimson Jimun Sunggong, MPP secretary Elizabeth Loh, MPP councillors as well as community and religious leaders.
