Tour of Sarawak fiasco: State govt embarrassed over cancellation, demands explanation from organiser

15 March 2016

KUCHING: The Sarawak government has expressed its disappointment over the fiasco surrounding the planned ‘Tour of Sarawak 2016’ international cycling championship event, which has been dogged by controversy.

Assistant State Social Development Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the state government was also embarrassed by the cancellation of the event, which was linked to the lack of funding by the organiser of the championship.

Karim said the event organisers should be more responsible and that they owe the state government an explanation over the disastrous management of the event.

“I am surprised myself that the event has got into this chaotic end. I am sad that it could not proceed as planned.

“I am unaware of what had happened (which had led to the cancellation of the event) but I believe it is related to financing.

“The organiser should have been more responsible. So much inconvenience has been caused to the numerous teams whose cyclists had trained for the event, only to be frustrated by it being abruptly cancelled.

“The state Government and state Ministry of Social Development are embarrassed by this last-minute cancellation, which was totally beyond our control,” Karim told the New Straits Times.

Tour of Sarawak brief poster. Pix source: Tourofsarawak.my website

The Tour of Sarawak fiasco came to light on Sunday night when technical crew members discovered, upon arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), that their flights to Miri had not been paid for by the organisers.

Yesterday morning, the furore escalated when teams arriving in Miri for the race discovered that all pre-race preparations had yet to be in place, leaving most of them stranded without accommodation, as rooms at the official hotel had not been confirmed or paid for by the organisers.

The police yesterday said they had withdrawn from the race, citing haphazard preparations and insufficient time to prepare logistics and manpower for the planned five-stage UCI 2.2 status race that was scheduled to start in Miri tomorrow, ending in Kuching on Sunday.