Demolishing illegal structures not about race or sports, says Hannah

 

Screengrabs of a video in which a crowd was seen protesting the demolition of an illegal structure adjacent to the Taman Sri Sinar community hall in Segambut.

PETALING JAYA: 

Youth and sports minister Hannah Yeoh has urged the public not to turn the demolition of an illegal structure next to a community hall in Kuala Lumpur into an issue of race or sports.

In a video which has gone viral, a crowd was seen protesting the demolition of the building, with some people claiming that it was used as a karate training ground and calling on Yeoh to intervene.

In a Facebook post, Yeoh said that the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and federal territories land and mines office (PTGWP) today attempted to demolish illegal structures adjacent to the Taman Sri Sinar community hall in Segambut – which she said had been occupied by an unauthorised operator without approval.

Yeoh said that DBKL had been trying to reclaim management of the hall for nearly a year. This, she said, was part of a broader initiative across Kuala Lumpur to ensure that community halls were accessible to all residents and not monopolised by any single party.

However, these efforts have been met with resistance. Numerous notices were issued by both PTGWP and DBKL for the operator to vacate, but they were ignored,

 said Yeoh.

“Despite receiving these notices, the operator even commenced new work to expand the illegal structure.

This is not a race or sports issue; it is a matter of addressing unauthorised occupation of public land.

Yeoh, who is the Segambut MP, said she was informed that PTGWP had given the operator a grace period of 30 days to remove their belongings from the venue.

Various gym equipment and treadmills were seen in the building at the end of the video.

FMT has reached out to DBKL for comment. - FMT