Penampang Complex upgrade delay: Ellron
Published on: Wednesday, May 24, 2023
By: Anthea Peter
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“We do request the sports enthusiasts to be patient as we are doing our best,” Ellron said.
Kota Kinabalu: Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ellron Alfred Angin said the Penampang Sports Complex’s facilities are being upgraded and built.“I’ve been made to understand the (works on) Penampang Sports Complex is being done. There is just a delay on (acquiring) the needed equipment,” Ellron said during question time at the State Legislative Assembly sitting, here, Tuesday.
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He was responding to a supplementary question by Moyog Assemblyman Datuk Darell Leiking who had brought up the delay on the works being done at the Penampang Stadium.
Darell had pointed out that many sports enthusiasts in Penampang are unhappy with the situation and have had to resort to using the sports field provided by the District Council instead, which is not in ideal conditions either.
“We do request the sports enthusiasts to be patient as we are doing our best,” Ellron said.
In November last year, Ellron had announced that his Ministry would be conducting maintenance and upgrading works in phases at all of Sabah’s 16 sports complexes, including Penampang’s.
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Meanwhile, Ellron said an application has been submitted to the Federal Youth and Sports Ministry to request help in developing Sabah’s sports infrastructures, including the construction of football fields and courts for the local community.
“We hope that the Federal Youth and Sports Ministry will respond positively to the issues that have been raised by my Ministry,” he said.
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He was responding to questions raised by Sindumin Assemblyman Datuk Dr Yusof @ Josree Yacob and Liawan Assemblyman Datuk Annuar Ayub Aman who had asked what the State Government’s initiatives were to upgrade sports facilities in rural areas and if there was an allocation for it.
“Local authorities and clubs can apply for the allocation through the Sabah Youth and Sports Department,” Ellron said.
He explained that the Ministry has yearly allocations to upgrade Sabah’s sports facilities under two expenditure codes, namely “Supply” and “Development”, adding that a large part of supply allocations goes towards maintaining and upgrading sports facilities.
“However, there are still many sports facilities that have not been maintained or upgraded because the maintenance cost requires a high budget every year.
“Therefore, my Ministry has planned a 10-year schedule to maintain and upgrade the sports facilities starting 2021, taking into account the total annual allocation of the Ministry,” he said.
For development allocations, Ellron said it would go towards upgrading fields and open multi-purpose courts in rural areas under the Rural Transformation programme.
“However under this programme, my Ministry can only aim to upgrade no more than four football fields and 25 multipurpose courts each year based on my Ministry’s current total allocation.
“My Ministry is aware of the need for football fields and other sports facilities throughout Sabah, including in rural areas.
“As such, my Ministry’s officers are always conducting studies on this need, so it can be a form of justification in the application for annual allocations or additional allocations every year,” he said.
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