The willingness of the Sabah Youth and Sports Ministry to give an allocation to the Sabah contingent police headquarters to build its own futsal arena shows the good ties between the state and federal governments.

In addition, its minister Tawfiq Abu Bakar Titingan said the RM150,000 allocation was also a sign of appreciation to the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) which had looked after national security, especially in Sabah.

"This is the first time that the ministry at the state level had given a project allocation for use by the federal agency and such a move could forge closer ties between the state and federal governments.

"I hope the arena could be utilised by the PDRM personnel and their families to indulge in a healthy and active lifestyle," he told reporters after officially opening the covered futsal arena in Kota Kinabalu today.

Earlier, State police commissioner Abdul Rashid Harun expressed appreciation to Tawfiq for his concern and interest in sports as well as that of the police personnel's interests.

- Bernama