KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian Paralympic Council (MPC) president Datuk Seri Megat D. Shahriman Zaharuddin suggests that the government allocate a bigger budget for the Paralympic athletes when they table Budget 2021 later today.
Megat hopes the government can increase their yearly allocation from RM100,000 a year to RM3 million a year for the cost of the operation of MPC, talent development and programmes that are organised for the Paralympic athletes.
“Currently, our yearly funds are not sufficient and we have to get other sponsors, but if the government can allocate around RM3 million a year for us, it will be great because we can do more of our Paralympic athletes.
“We deserve more from the government as we have performed well in all the competitions we competed,” Megat told The Vibes.
He added that he wished that the government can allocate more medical supplies to the athletes and increase the allowance from RM500 to RM1,500 a month.
“They are not like normal athletes. They are special but they perform at the same level or sometimes better than the normal athletes. They should deserve the same as the rest.”
Meanwhile, Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria wishes that the government will consider tax breaks for those companies or individuals who contribute towards the sports industry.
“Generally, the government is already providing tax breaks of 7% and 10% to individuals and companies, respectively. If the government is able to increase the percentage of a tax break to those who do their bit for sports, it would definitely entice more companies particularly to become a sponsor or partner of either sports events or national sports associations.
“As we are aware, the Covid-19 pandemic has hit the sports industry badly, particularly for those who are owning facilities. Due to the SOPs, many of these facilities are now under-utilised.”
He added that similarly, event organisers are also impacted as are the athletes who under normal circumstances would have gotten their earnings from participating in various tournaments.
Norza said that these stakeholders are severely impacted in terms of their income and he hopes the government would consider these group of stakeholders to be exempted from income tax at least for this year and the next couple of years.
“To divert monies from the industry that is benefiting from the pandemic (i.e. producers of gloves/masks, suppliers of vaccines, etc) to the National Sports agenda/programmes is a good idea. Either a percentage of their profits to be exclusively channelled to sports or to impose a ‘sports tax’ on their profit will help the national sports agenda.
“I hope the government considers to introduce a pension scheme for those athletes who qualified to the Olympic Games,” Norza concluded. – The Vibes, November 6, 2020.
