KUCHING: The main secretariat of the 21st Malaysia Games (SUKMA XXI) Sarawak 2024 must ensure that each competition venue is in top condition to avoid any arising issues.

Sarawak Deputy State Secretary (Operation), Datu Hii Chang Kee said the appointed venue managers must ensure no unwanted incidents occur that could tarnish Sarawak's reputation in hosting this prestigious event, which is now only 15 days away.

He emphasised that all parties involved, including liaison officers and volunteers, must understand their roles in ensuring the smooth running of all 37 sports events at the 50 venues.

"Being a venue manager is an important responsibility. We place all our trust in them to ensure the overall execution at the respective venues are smooth and issue-free, while also ensuring all staff are present and ready two days before the competition begins,”he said.

He said this when giving a briefing to the SUKMA 2024 venue managers at the Indoor Stadium, Petra Jaya, here on Friday.

Also present were Director of the Sarawak Youth and Sports Department (JBS), Lamat Nyalau, Director of the Sarawak Public Communication Unit (UKAS), Samuel Simon, and Deputy Permanent Secretary to the Sarawak Ministry of Women, Early Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development (KPWK), Nur Alina Abdullah @ Colliner Gohe.

In his briefing, Datu Hii as the Chief Executive Officer of SUKMA 2024 highlighted several important tasks that each venue manager must take into account.

Among those tasks are holding coordination meetings and site visits with the working committees, conducting prize presentation rehearsals with volunteers a day before the competition, managing the prize presentation sessions with the help of the JBS volunteer team, overseeing and monitoring the overall venue, and ensuring all staff are present at the venue before and during the competition.

Additionally, venue managers are tasked with ensuring that all state and national anthems and flags are sufficient and accurate, controlling access to the VIP area, checking medals, contacting the main or divisional secretariats if there are issues requiring immediate advice or decisions, preparing daily reports in the specified format, and being accountable to the SUKMA Special Technical Committee.

Moreover, each venue manager is also allocated 15 flags representing the 14 states and territories in Malaysia, including Brunei Darussalam, which will compete for the SUKMA 2024 overall championship. 

The briefing session concluded with a prize presentation simulation focusing on volunteer duties and the arrangement of the prize presentation ceremony. -UKASnews