SELANGOR LOOKING FOR NEW SITE FOR MOTORCYCLE RACING CIRCUIT

SHAH ALAM, Nov 21 (Bernama) -- The Selangor government is currently identifying a new location for the development of a dedicated motorsport racing circuit, the Selangor State Legislative Assembly was told today.

State executive councillor for youth, sports, and entrepreneurship, Najwan Halimi said this follows an initial proposal to develop the facility in the Sungai Tua area in Gombak, which was found to be unsuitable due to factors such as environmental impact and high costs.

He said that the consultants had presented the findings of their study based on a 16.2 hectare area, where the estimated length of the racing circuit that could be built was only 2.25 kilometres.

"This distance is insufficient for Drag Racing (400-metre straight-line race) because the maximum straight line that can be constructed is only 340 metres, whereas the minimum approved length for safety standards is 600 metres.

Furthermore, there is a river flow in the study area, with the water ending up at Batu Dam. If earthworks are carried out and it rains, it will affect the river’s water quality, impacting cleanliness and causing disruptions to the water supply," he said.

He was responding to a question from Mohd Razali Saari (PN-Sungai Panjang), who wanted to know whether the state government had conducted any social and environmental impact studies on the proposed area for the motorsport racing circuit development in Selangor.

Regarding the state's readiness to sponsor motorsport athletes at the international level, Najwan said that the government is always open to discussions with state-owned companies for such purposes.

"We assess from various aspects, though motorsport is quite costly. However, if sponsorship from state-owned companies is possible, we can discuss it. We will evaluate the suitability and have further discussions," he said.

-- BERNAMA