Taib signs the MBR certificates as Raghad (on his left), Talib (third left) and others look on.

BINTULU: Two new records made it into the Malaysia Book of Records (MBR) during the 15th Borneo International Kite Festival (BIKF) at Bintulu Old Airport yesterday.

The two records by Bintulu Development Authority (BDA) were for successfully installing ‘The Biggest Train Kite Arch Tunnel’ and ‘The Most Number of Train Kites in an Arch Tunnel’.

The record for ‘The Biggest Train Kite Arch Tunnel’ was 1,440 metres in length and width of 40 metres, while a total of 7,250 kites were recorded for the second record.

MBR president Datuk Danny Ooi and MBR chief executive officer Dato Michael Tio were on hand to confirm both records, witnessed by Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud who signed the MBR certificates.

Among those present yesterday were Taib’s wife Toh Puan Datuk Patinggi Raghad Kurdi Taib, Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department (Integrity and Ombudsman) Datuk Talib Zulpilip and BDA general manager Rodziah Morshidi.

The Biggest Train Kite Arch Tunnel created at this year’s BIKF.

The new record for ‘The Biggest Train Kite Arch Tunnel’ beat the previous one also set by BDA during the 2015 edition of BIKF.

Rodziah meanwhile said this year’s edition attracted 159 participants from 31 countries.

“The festival is the biggest in Bintulu and opens up a lot of opportunities for small traders, some of whom earn tens of thousands of ringgit during the five days of the event,” she said.

She also said it was an honour to have Taib present to witness the two record-breaking attempts as it was the Head of State who had come up with the idea for BIKF when he was chief minister.