THE State Government through the State Youth and Sports Ministry (KBSS) will implement the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) Contribution Programme for Sabah athletes beginning next year (2023).
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said the initiative is specifically meant for athletes who are serious about sports.
He said starting next year, all athletes representing Sabah to Sukma and Para Sukma will receive an EPF contribution of RM50 per month, which will be funded by the Sabah Government.
“I hope that this contribution will be a starting point for the state’s athletes to train more seriously, making sports a career and a future builder.
“This programme will also ensure the continuity of contributions when our athletes transition to the working world later. Kudos to KBSS for its concern and continuous efforts to fight for the welfare of athletes in this state,” he said at the presentation of victory incentives for Sabah athletes who won a medal at the Commonwealth Games XXII-Birmingham 2022, Para Asean XI-Solo 2022, Malaysian Games (SUKMA) XX-MSN 2022 at Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) in Kota Kinabalu on Oct 27. His speech was read by State Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ellron Alfred Angin.
The Chief Minister said the State Government will continue to provide large and consistent allocations to ensure that more sports activities can be carried out, in addition to providing infrastructure and modern sports technology to meet the needs of athletes to train more efficiently.
Hajiji said through the Sabah Sports Policy, the Government strives towards the formation of a sports culture and the improvement of the health of the people of Sabah.
According to him, in addition to the provision of more comfortable sports facilities in all sports complexes throughout the State, Youth Arena buildings also exists to meet the needs of the local community and boost the young people’s involvement in sports, recreation and community activities. Hajiji said the development of youth through sports activities has always been the main agenda of the Government in forming a society that is harmonious, tolerant and united.
“Sports are not only able to build the identity and high discipline of the community, especially young people who are our hope in the future, but can also strengthen unity among the people of various races and religions in this state,” he stressed.
He said the total amount of the victory incentives given to outstanding athletes was RM481,600, a rather large amount but very worthwhile spent by the State Government to continue attracting the interest and participation of Sabah’s youth in the field of sports.
A winning incentive of RM10,000 was given to the sole winner at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, while incentives amounting to RM68,000 were given to the winners of the Para Asean Solo Games and incentives totalling RM292,600 given to the winners of Sukma 2022.
He said the State Government has also not forgotten the hard work of all the coaches and team managers who have sacrificed a lot of time and energy to look after the welfare of their respective teams, by giving an incentive amounting to RM69,000 to the coaches and RM42,000 to the team managers whose athletes successfully contributed medals at Sukma last month.
Hajiji stressed that in addition to providing incentives for sports athletes, KBSS also channels a lot of assistance to youth and associations to ensure that young people in the State have the capital to start small businesses.
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