The UAE plans to manufacture its new robot jockeys in Abu Dhabi, an official said yesterday.
The move will gradually phase out human jockeys over five years, Shaikh Sultan Bin Hamdan Al Nahyan, chairman of the Protocol Department, told Gulf News.
The move means more than 20,000 young jockeys, mostly from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Yemen and Sudan, will lose their jobs.
Shaikh Sultan, who is also vice-president of the UAE Camel Racing Federation, said the robots, which were developed by UAE national engineers, will be priced at Dh7,300 a piece.
The UAE successfully tested the first prototype robot camel jockey on Saturday.
"We have completed the first phase in the production of the robot. Engineers will start the second phase in three weeks. The testing phase is planned to end by August," he said.
A production line will then be set up in the capital, Shaikh Sultan said. He did not say which country will build the plant or how much investment has been allocated to the project. "The UAE is determined to invest dearly to put an end to the problem of using underage camel jockeys," he said. He did not rule out that the UAE might subsidise the robots to make them affordable.
The lightweight robot jockeys, scheduled to be introduced next year, receive orders from the instructor via a remote-control system fixed on the back of the camel.
Shaikh Sultan said the manufacturing of robots would not mean an immediate ban on human jockeys. There would be special races using robots and other races with human jockeys. Eventually, only robots will ride camels at races.
Oman's child camel jockey ban
Oman has banned children under 14 from working as camel jockeys. The decision was made by the Oman Equestrian and Camel Association.
Representative of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Saeed of Oman and the chairman of the association, Sayyid Asa'ad Bin Tariq bin Taimour Al Said, said the decision would come into force in September.
The decision states camel jockeys should present a birth or age estimation certificate.
Gulf News
