KUALA LUMPUR: The low rate of Malaysians registered as persons with disabilities (OKU) has made it difficult to unearth new para athletes who can be groomed to represent the country, the Dewan Negara has been told.
Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh said 685,602 people are registered as OKU so far, and this figure was low compared with the total population of over 33 million.
“If we look at the statistics this year, the number of OKU in Malaysia is estimated at 15% of the total population based on global standards but, so far, only 685,602 people are recorded as owning the OKU card.
“This is one of the challenges we face in looking for para athletes...,” she said during the question- and-answer session here yesterday.
She was replying to a supplementary question from Senator Datuk Sivaraj Chandran, who wanted to know the total allocation and programmes implemented for the development of para athletes.
Yeoh said for that, the ministry has increased the administration grant for the Paralympic Council of Malaysia (PCM) to RM172,000 from RM100,000 previously, for the payment of salaries to three new staffers for the PCM to organise talent-search programmes at the state and district levels.
She also said the ministry felt that the RM19mil provided by the government for para athletes’ development programmes was sufficient for now.
Hannah added that the allocation would, among others, be used to fund the Para Podium Programme, development programmes involving backup para athletes and unearth new talent through the establishment of state and district training centres.
