Govt. says No to 2nd arena for motorsports

Manama : The Government of Bahrain has rejected a proposal to establish a special arena for motorsports to attract Bahraini youth.
In its reply to the parliamentary proposal, the government asserted that Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) offers sufficient motorsports and other related activities.
Initially submitted by MP Jamal Dawood in early 2015, the proposal demanded the government to coordinate with private establishments to construct a racing and car stunts arena.
Dawood said the arena would reduce illegal street racing and car stunt activities that have caused many fatal accidents and injuries among Bahraini youth.
While discussing the proposal, which was passed by the House of Representatives, Dawood stressed that it would attract motorsport enthusiasts from regional countries as well and eventually benefit tourism in the Kingdom.
The government, however, justified its rejection to the proposal, stating that BIC organises weekly, monthly, quarterly and biannual motorsports activities that included drag racing, drifting competitions and other events.
“Such events are supervised by professionals at BIC. They are held in accordance with the international safety and security standards,” the government’s reply said.
In a recent talk with the DT News, the MP said that Bahraini youths coming to the events at BIC were being reduced as they thought they were “costly.
According to him, the entry charges to the proposed arena should be kept under BD3 to both participants and spectators, and the arena should be under the supervision of the General Directorate of Traffic.
Dawood said his constituencies in Hamad town had the majority of complaints that there had been noisy and dangerous car stunts and manoeuvres in the area, and that many motorsports enthusiasts (drivers and spectators) gathered illegally in different parts of the country every week to perform such practices.
Stressing that a second arena is required in Bahrain, the MP told that the new project only targets amateur car shows and not professional racing events such as the ones organised by the BIC.