RM64mil Langkawi shooting range broken beyond repair

The Langkawi International Shooting Range Complex, once a pride of the duty-free island, was the venue for the shooting event of the 1998 Commonwealth Games.

Now, it is an eyesore with many of its facilities broken beyond repair.

What is more worrying is that its armoury filled with shotguns, pistols and rifles and bullets, are not kept properly, with their log books not updated.

The digital lock to the vault where the ammunition and guns are kept are also not functioning and the closed-circuit television cameras are broken.

In the 2009 Auditor-General's Report, it was found that the RM64 million facility managed by the Management Services and Ministry's Assets Department under the Home Ministry, has been poorly administered.

The Audit Report also uncovered several other flaws including:

* The walkie-talkies bought in 2002 for the armoury block are not working well as a result of poor maintenance.

* All fire extinguishers in all blocks and the shooting range have expired.

"Apart from that, we also found bullet casings in the vault that have yet to be destroyed.

"They have to be destroyed immediately... to avoid abuse through modifying it or it being sold," it said.

However, the ministry replied in the report saying that all the bullet casings have been destroyed by PDRM in Nov 2009.

Shooting range now white elephant

The report also put the spotlight on the direction of the complex after the end of the Commonwealth Games, resulting in its mismanagement. "The frequent change in management resulted in the poor maintenance of the complex."

Its out of the way location does not help either.

"Sporting bodies and government agencies are not too keen on using the facilities as they would incur a lot in travelling expenses," it said.

The audit team also found that, apart from shooting and target practice at the complex, other activities are carried out in the complex such as bomb testing by the police's elite unit, VAT 69.

"All these are not within the scope of a shooting range," said the report.

It also revealed that while the management of the complex was at one point mulled to go to the Youth and Sports Ministry, the Home Ministry decided to stick to their guns and continue managing the complex. -Malaysiakini