Some 18 teams from West Kalimantan participated in the Dragon Boat Festival competition held to enliven the 2022 sun’s culmination point event “Pesona Kulminasi in Pontianak City” on September 21-25.
“Hopefully, the Dragon Boat Festival will become a tourism activity in Pontianak City and not only at the provincial level but also throughout Indonesia to the world. We have the Kapuas River, the longest river in Indonesia,” Pontianak Mayor Edi Rusdi Kamtono stated here on Friday.
Soon, the Dragon Boat Festival will be named on the basis of the characteristics of Pontianak City, which is the only city that sits on the khatulistiwa, or the earth’s equator. According to Kamtono, this focuses on city branding and promoting the impression of Pontianak as a sports city.
“The people of Pontianak City like to exercise, and this agenda makes them more motivated about sports. The Pontianak city government strives to prepare sports facilities and infrastructure in public areas, such as schools and parks,” the mayor stated.
Meanwhile, the Dragon Boat Festival Committee Chairperson, Abdi Nurkamil Mawardi, remarked that the competition was held based on the schedule and followed the international regulations. Hence, the race track was shortened, and the number of participants had been reduced.
“This competition has become West Kalimantan’s center of mainstay athletes for pre-PON and PON (National Sports Week) preparations,” he remarked.
Furthermore, he said, West Kalimantan’s rowing athletes had clocked several achievements internationally, such as winning a rowing competition in Guangzhou, China, and the Hassanal Bolkiah Cup in Brunei Darussalam.
“Rowing activities have been in a state of vacuum for three years. This agenda is a warm-up to hold the Pontianak International Dragon Boat,” he remarked.
Commander of the Main Naval Base XII Commodore Suharto said the Pesona Kulminasi event should stimulate the economic sector to recover. To this end, he urged the development of rowing sports to be bolstered.
Source: Antara News