GEORGE TOWN: Penang's reputation globally has dropped following weaknesses in the annual Penang Bridge International Marathon (PBIM) yesterday, state Gerakan vice-chairman Oh Tong Keong said.
As such, he said the Penang government, state Tourism Committee chairman Law Heng Kiang and the organiser should be held accountable for the "blunders".
He said despite being held annually, with yesterday's event having attracted 35,000 local and foreign participants, the PBIM was still plagued with technical issues.
Among them were the alleged poor organisation, giving participants expired chocolates and incorrect sized T-shirts, two-hour delay for finishers to collect their medals as well as three best performers in the junior category being denied a podium presentation of their prizes.
"This is a serious matter and warrants immediate answers.
"We (Barisan Nasional) had been organising the run when we were in power, but since Pakatan Harapan took over, it had steadily deteriorated," he said yesterday.
Oh also demanded an explanation on why the top three runners under the junior category were not allowed to go on the stage to receive their prizes, and instead told to collect their medals from the tents instead.
“This is an embarrassment and it has clearly hurt the feelings of the winners in the category who are all teenagers,” Oh said.
Meanwhile, participants had taken to PBIM's Facebook to vent their frustration and anger over how the event was organised.
They also criticised PBIM for not being able to access the full results this evening.
Tai Yeow Au said: "Please don’t announce if your site is not ready. You’ve already made a few people upset yesterday. You don’t need additional upset runners."
Mong Xeng Xuang wrote: "PBIM, continue to disappoint even after the event. The only part they were efficient is collecting your fees."
Afiq A. Halim posted "We demand official apologies from the organiser about all the hiccups (running tee shortage, race pack collection, medal and all sorts)".
Law had said that the PBIM was well organised and those who did not get their medals were likely those who did not finish on time.
He also said the sponsor of the chocolate would put out a statement soon.