NEW COMPANY TO TAKE CARE OF ALKA HORSES

SINJ, Oct 23 (Hina) - The Mayor of Sinj and the president of the Alka Chivalry Tournament Society (VAD), Mate Jukic, said on Wednesday that a special company would be established to care for Alka horses, after the Croatian army announced yesterday it would no longer perform this duty. #L# The town of Sinj, the Alka Society and certain Alka members -- horse owners, will be the founder of the company which will take care of all Alka horses and maintain stalls at the horse track, Jukic said. There are some 30 horses in the stalls, for which there is sufficient food until the end of the year, so local authorities of the Cetina River region and Split-Dalmatia County will be asked to assist the company until it is able to cover all expenses. In a letter sent to the Alka Society on Tuesday, the Croatian Armed Forces Headquarters said that neither personnel nor financial resources for horse care and helping the Alka Society were envisaged in a draft reorganisation of the Armed Forces, so the army would no longer be able to perform this duty which it had been performing since 1991. (hina) lml