Abu Dhabi - Shaikh Sultan bin Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE Camel Federation Committee, opens first camel race track n the Southwestern Sahara desert.
Published: Tue 17 May 2016, 3:51 PM
Last updated: Tue 17 May 2016, 6:04 PM
As part of its efforts to preserve bedouin culture, the UAE opened the first camel race track in the Southwestern Sahara desert.
The inauguration took place during the ongoing Tan-Tan Moussem festival in Morocco, where UAE participates as guest of honor.
The UAE, through the Cultural Programmes and Heritage Festivals Committee - Abu Dhabi, is taking part in the festival for the third year in a row.
Shaikh Sultan bin Hamdan Al Nahyan, Advisor to the UAE President and President of the UAE Camel Federation Committee, inaugurated the camel race track on Sunday.
The six-kilometre long track, in the shape of a "U" letter, has lanes for both camels to race and for cars to follow them from start to finish.
Moroccan bedouins from the region came along with some 200 camels for the inaugural race.
There were 10 race rounds altogether, based on the camels' age and gender, but only the first four races offered cash awards - Dh9,500 for each of the first position of the four races.
Since 2015, the Emirati delegation, which also includes the Advanced Scientific Group for Swaihan's camel research centre, has been working with local authorities of Tan-Tan and organisers of the festival to open a professional camel race track at the festival's grounds.
The UAE will also help Tan-Tan camel owners to develop veterinary centres and a camel racing culture, which can eventually improve their economic status.
"We are going to give them camel embryos, so by this time next year they will have pedigree racing camels," said Khalifa Al Nuaimi, chief executive officer of the Advanced Scientific Group.
"We are also planning to bring camel racers from here to Abu Dhabi, teach them how to care for camels and how to handle them in racing," he added.
The Moroccan festival near the town of Tan-Tan, which celebrates Bedouin customs and traditions from across Sahara desert, is now in its 12th year, after being relaunched in 2004.
Its beginnings go far back to the days of nomadic life, when tribes travelled freely across Sahara and gathered for one week every month of May to exchange desert news and celebrate their oral heritage.
The moussem or gathering turned into a festival in 1963, and was banned between 1979 and 2004 because of security problems in the region.
haseeb@khaleejtimes.com
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