Tg Aru pony races to end by September
Published on: Saturday, August 01, 2009
Kota Kinabalu: Pony racing is expected to commence at the Tambalang racecourse in Tuaran by the end of September.A long-term plan has been worked out to ensure members benefit fully when racing activities are shifted from Tanjung Aru to Tambalang, said incumbent Royal Sabah Turf Club (RSTC) Chairman Datuk Golkhan Hasbollah. He said racing activities had to be moved to Tambalang as the Government had acquired 4.21 acres of the RSTC land in Tanjung Aru for the extension of the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) runway.ADVERTISEMENT He explained that all the stables would be affected by the extension of the runway and that the remaining land in Tanjung Aru would not be sufficient for racing activities.Therefore, he said the club had approached the State Government to allow RSTC to use the Tambalang Racecourse and after several rounds of meetings the management committee managed to convince the Government to relocate racing activities to Tuaran.Speaking to reporters, Friday, Golkhan said the State Government had instructed Diriwan Corporation, which is presently renting the racecourse, to proceed with renovation works in due course at their own expense."Diriwan has, in principle, agreed and promised to renovate and complete the works within two months before RSTC moves to Tambalang to continue racing activities there," he said.ADVERTISEMENT In Tambalang, the betting system would also be improved while a new system called off-course betting would be introduced for the benefit of the Tanjung Aru punters so that they can bet and watch the races from a live telecast.Golkhan said the 149-acre Tambalang racecourse, being an international standard racecourse, needed very capable people to work within the club and at the same time improve racing standards in Sabah.
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Towards this end, the management committee has a long term plan to develop Tambalang with the support of the State Government."We believe my group has the capability to improve racing activities for the benefit of the members and punters," he said.In response to the statement by former RSTC Deputy President Datuk David Chong that it would be illegal for the club to hold the election of office bearers first before its AGM on Aug 3, he said:"It is not true. We believe he did not attend the last annual meeting on Nov. 20, 2007 at the Tanjung Aru racecourse when the life and full members passed a resolution to hold the election and then meeting, respectively, as published in the Annual General Meeting Agenda."Golkhan said the resolution was passed following requests from members, particularly elderly members who did not want to wait for a long time to cast their votes."The resolution was submitted to the Registrar of Societies (RoS) and had been accepted." In the meantime, he confirmed that his line-up consists of Mohd Hamdin Abidin, Yap Chee Ming, Lim Lean Lai, Peter Han Bat Fong, Tiu Fui Khiong, Ang Chi Khiung, Aven Lim Yuk Yin and Chaw Khing Hong.He urged all teams to work for the benefit of the club and members and not make personal attacks in the run-up to the club office bearers' election.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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"I wish all the candidates good luck," he said, appealing to all members to attend the meeting scheduled for 3pm to 7pm at the Grand Ballroom, Pacific Sutera on Aug. 3.The RSTC has 296 full and life members who are eligible to take part in the election.