BINTULU : Bintulu Development Authority (BDA) has been urged to consider the proposal to set up an international standard BMX track in Bintulu in the near future.

“If Bintulu Development Authority (BDA) can pass the proposal to build Bintulu BMX Track, it will not only be able to host international sports events in the future but also attract the world’s top players to participate.

“There will also be first-class and standard safety training venues for BMX enthusiasts.

“For local BMX enthusiasts, there will also be first-class and standard safety training venues,” said Johnny Pang.

The Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Bintulu branch chairman said he and the project manager of the Bintulu BMX Track Danny Hii had met with Eric Dio, the manager of the landscape department of BDA last Friday.

During the meeting, they submitted the proposal of Bintulu BMX Track to Eric and later went to Millennium Park, the proposed site for the BMX track, for inspection.

Pang said he will continue to follow up on the progress of the proposal, and hoped that BDA can approve funding as soon as possible so that the construction plan can be carried out soon.

Meanwhile, Hii said BMX started in the late 1960s in California, around the time that motocross became a popular sport in the USA.

He said BMX rapidly developed as a unique sporting entity, and after several years had more in common with cycling than motorcycling codes.

“On June 29, 2003, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to introduce BMX in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, followed by 2012 at London, 2016 at Rio and 2021 at Tokyo 2020,” said Hii.

The BMX Racing track project was initiated by DNA SPORTS during the Division Tourism Task Group Bintulu meeting on January 21 last year.

Hii said due to the rapid increase in cycling activities in recent years, there is high demand for a BMX racing track in Bintulu.

He said a study they made found that there was no BMX racing track of international standard in Sarawak, Sabah, Brunei and Indonesia.

“We can make the first international level BMX track which fully complies with the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) requirement,” he added.

According to Hii, they proposed for the Bintulu BMX Track to be set up at Taman Millenium Bintulu, which requires a land size of around three to four acres.

He believed that this proposal can be integrated with BMX freestyle and Bintulu pump track in the future development.

BMX is an acronym for Bicycle Motocross, an integrating fitness, competition, entertainment and leisure which is currently loved by many young people.