Extreme motorsports week has global tourism potential

Sempurai (centre) at the launch of Sibujaya Bike Week.

THE Sibujaya Bike Week in Sarawak, featuring extreme motorsports, has the makings of a sports tourism product with global appeal.

“To me, it is not impossible that the Sibujaya Extreme Motocross Grand Prix, which is the highlight of the Sibujaya Bike Week, will be an attraction for motocross fans from outside Sarawak and even from overseas,” said Sibu Rural District Council (SRDC) chairman Sempurai Petrus Ngelai.

“It can bring sports tourism to Sarawak and to Sibujaya,” he said.

Speaking at the opening of the event, he said Sibujaya Bike Week could also be used to introduce Sibujaya to outsiders.

Most of the participants in the Sibujaya Grand Prix (GP), being held from Aug 26 to Sept 3, are from outside Sarawak.

Apart from the Sibujaya GP, other events that are no less interesting are the Bike Show, Mountain bike and Entertainment Stage events to further enliven Sibujaya Bike Week 2023.

Touching on Sibujaya, Sempurai said the township had grown rapidly in the last five years with a current population of 40,000.

“As Sibujaya is strategically located in the middle of the Pan Borneo Highway, it has potential economic development and population settlement.

“We all know that Sibujaya has grown rapidly and what we see now is the result of Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg’s planning and efforts when he was the then housing minister,” said Sempurai.

He commended all the good work of the Sarawak government and the developer as well as the local authority, which had resulted in Sibujaya becoming a very well-organised place in terms of development of commercial buildings and housing for residents.