It’s only the dam now for Penang dragon boat races

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Pesta Open Dragon Boat Race 2009 will no longer be held at the Bandar Sri Pinang fisherman’s jetty off the Jelutong Expressway.

Penang Tourism Development and Culture Committee chairman Danny Law said the decision was made after complaints that there were no proper demarcation during the race last December.

“There were complaints about the alignment and the lack of demarcation last December. Because of that, we decided then that the race would no longer be held there,” Law said here yesterday.

The venue is about 1km from the dragon boat tragedy scene which took the lives of five Chung Ling High School students and a teacher.

Law said the state’s annual Penang International Dragon Boat Festival is held at the Teluk Bahang Dam around June.

The annual Penang Pesta race, which is a smaller dragon boat competition (held in December), would resume there this year.

Law came under fire for the change in venue last year when a rower was injured after two boats collided during a race.

Commenting on the tragedy, Law said that since early last year, dragon boat teams in the state had been offered free use of the Teluk Bahang Dam on weekends to practise but the out-of-the-way location made it an unpopular choice.

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