PETALING JAYA: Homeless Malaysian Cricket Association (MCA) were plunged deeper in the mire today after the government insisted it was game over for them at Kinrara Oval.
The National Sports Council (NSC) insisted that neither they nor the sports ministry could help MCA and asked the national cricket body to get alternative venues.
NSC said in a statement the landowner, Perumahan Kinrara Berhad (PKB), was adamant to proceed with commercial development on the estimated five-hectare site in Puchong.
PKB is a subsidiary of property development company I&P Group Sdn Bhd, which is in turn wholly-owned by SP Setia Bhd.
Despite being recently evicted from Kinrara Oval, MCA wanted to stay on at the showpiece cricket stadium with government assistance.
MCA also hoped for government help in their dispute with the landowner over the non-payment of more than RM1.8 million in assessment fees which had been paid on their behalf by PKB.
As the stripping of the stadium began with hundreds of assets going under the hammer on March 31, MCA pledged to settle the unpaid fees but still held to the claim that the tariff should have been based on sports and recreation rather than commercial properties.
NSC said MCA had to establish their operations, training and competition centre elsewhere to ensure their programmes were not affected.
“We believe the legal issue can be resolved if MCA accepts that the land that houses Kinrara Oval belongs to PKB and SP Setia,” the statement said.
Kinrara Oval had been managed on a lease by MCA for 15 years since 2003 and the national cricket body got a two-year extension in 2018 upon the intervention of the then Pakatan Harapan administration that felt the ground was more important than commercial development.
NSC said the original lease agreement allowed MCA to use the land on the condition it bore the joint cost of the initial construction of the Kinrara Oval.
MCA was also responsible for paying the land tax and assessment fees to the local authorities.
“However, MCA are alleged to have not reimbursed the initial construction cost of Kinrara Oval, and even disputed the assessment rate which had been paid in advance by PKB,” the statement said.
“The crisis arose when the lease period ended in 2018 and SP Setia (a housing developer) together with PKB took action to take back Kinrara Oval on the grounds that MCA did not keep its promise as stipulated in the agreement.
“The sports ministry and NSC were asked to help and after finding that Kinrara Oval was built on land owned by PKB, we tried to find a new venue,” the statement said.
NSC said Multimedia University (MMU) had agreed to offer their field in Cyberjaya to set up a new cricket venue, saying the university had obtained the approval of its senate for the purpose, while SP Setia was also ready to help relocate Kinrara Oval to the new location.
“Unfortunately, MCA still hoped to maintain Kinrara Oval as their training and competition centre,” the statement said, adding, “We are always ready to help MCA find the best alternative venue.”
NSC expressed confidence that the national cricketers’ training programmes will not be disrupted as Sime Darby Properties has offered MCA the management of the Bayuemas Oval “which had better facilities than Kinrara Oval”.
Bayuemas Oval at Pandamaran in Klang was vacated by the Malay Cricket Association of Malaysia last year.
NSC said MCA also had the field at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) in Bangi which had served as a training centre for cricketers at the tertiary institution level with the cooperation of the Malay Cricket Association of Malaysia and UKM.
In response to the NSC statement, MCA president Iqbal Ali Kassim Ali said all payments towards the joint cost of the initial construction of Kinrara Oval were made to PKB.
He said MCA had hoped for a meeting with PKB and the sports ministry after former youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman had in 2019 stated that Malaysian cricket could remain at Kinrara Oval until such time all the parties came to an amicable arrangement.
“That meeting did not materialise and we subsequently initiated several correspondences to the sports ministry, Prime Minister’s Office as well as the present minister of youth and sports.
“MCA is therefore surprised to learn that NSC is not aware of these correspondences,” he said.
Iqbal said MCA had yet to receive an official letter or proposal on the offer by MMU offering their field in Cyberjaya as a cricket venue.
He declined comment on plans to ensure continuity of cricket initiatives and the national team’s training programmes. - FMT
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