14 Oct Preparations for SUKMA XX Johor 2020 right on track

Johor Chief Minister pleased with progress after visiting various venues

JOHOR BAHRU (14 OCTOBER 2019): With less than 300 days to go, preparations for the eagerly awaited SUKMA XX Johor 2020 is moving along smoothly and the event received a major boost with the news that the construction and refurbishment of all the official venues for the big event are well ahead of schedule.

This piece of good news was disclosed by Johor Chief Minister, YAB Dato’ Dr Sahruddin Jamal when he made his first official visit to various venues earlier this week to check on the progress being made. During the tour, Dr Sahruddin visited Dataran Bola Sepak MBIP at Educity, the Youth Hub, Arena Emas and Sportcity Mount Austin.

The Youth Hub, which is located in Iskandar Puteri, will house the velodrome and BMX tracks for the cycling events while Taman Impian Emas-based Arena Emas will host archery, lawn bowls, petanque and squash. The athletics programme, rugby and shooting will be held at the newly built Sportcity in Mount Austin.

Dr Sahruddin said he was satisfied and pleased with the progress the respective venues are making and is relishing the opportunity of Johor hosting what he believes will be the best SUKMA in history.

“Today we visited four venues and I am very satisfied with the progress each venue is making. This means there are no projects being delayed and some may even be completed ahead of schedule,” said a beaming Dr Sahruddin. “The progress of Sportcity in Mount Austin is at 95% completion while the Youth Hub and Arena Emas are about 46% into its project duration. All the venues can be completed as early as February or April next year.”

The SUKMA XX Johor 2020 is scheduled for July 11-19 next year. The southern state will be hosting this biennial event for only the second time since its inauguration in 1986, having hosted the Games’ fourth edition in 1992.

Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor Sdn Bhd (KPRJ), which is the investment arm of Johor, is overseeing all of the SUKMA XX Johor 2020 infrastructure as well as commercial development projects. The state government has entrusted KPRJ with this huge responsibility. In addition, its subsidiary Sports Johor Sdn Bhd (SJSB) will act as the secretariat for the Games as it has the expertise and experience of being the catalyst for all sports and athletics development programmes in the state.