KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Cricket Association (MCA) slammed the National Sports Council (NSC) for accusing them of not paying the joint cost of the initial construction of the Kinrara Oval.
In a statement, its president Mohammed Iqbal Ali Kassim Ali said the association had settled the payments in full with landowner Perumahan Kinrara Berhad (PKB).
He further added that former Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman had – on February 15, 2019 – issued a statement that read MCA could “remain at the Oval until such time when a meeting is held between PKB, the ministry and MCA to seek an amicable resolution to this matter”.
Iqbal said the meeting, however, has not been held to date.
The statement further said that MCA, which had initiated several correspondences to the ministry, the Prime Minister’s office and the current Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu, was surprised to learn that the NSC was not aware of these correspondences.
“NSC also stated that Multimedia University (MMU) has agreed to allow their field in Cyberjaya to be set up as the new training centre, however, we have yet to receive an official letter nor a proposal on this matter,” read the statement.
The above statement came in response to NSC’s recommendation that the MCA consider alternative training venues to ensure that the continuity of their sports programmes will not be affected in the future.
NSC suggested this after an issue involving a training and competition centre − namely the Kinrara Oval, which was managed on a lease by MCA for 15 years since 2003 from Perumahan Kinrara Berhad − arose recently.
NSC in a statement today said the lease involved an agreement to allow MCA to use the land owned by the private company provided it bore the joint cost of the initial construction of the Kinrara Oval apart from MCA being responsible for paying land tax and assessment tax to the local authorities.
“However, MCA is alleged to have not reimbursed the initial construction cost of Kinrara Oval, and even disputed the assessment tax rate, which had been paid in advance by the landowner Perumahan Kinrara Berhad.
“The crisis arose when the lease period ended in 2018 and SP Setia (a housing developer) − together with Perumahan Kinrara Berhad − took action to take back Kinrara Oval on the grounds that MCA did not keep its promise as stipulated in the previous agreement,” the statement said.
In this regard, the Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) and NSC were asked to help, and after finding that Kinrara Oval was indeed built on land owned by the landowner, NSC has tried to find a new venue to replace Kinrara Oval, which would be taken back by the landowner.
According to NSC, Multimedia University (MMU) has agreed to offer up their field in Cyberjaya as MCA’s new training centre and cricket competition ground.
NSC added that MMU had obtained the approval of the university’s senate for this purpose while SP Setia was also ready to help relocate Kinrara Oval to the new location.
“Unfortunately, MCA still hopes to maintain Kinrara Oval as their training and competition centre. In fact, MCA had obtained the consent of the Prime Minister and it was decided at the Cabinet meeting that the Kinrara Oval area should not be developed.
“As such, SP Setia have postponed their intention to take back the land,” the statement added.
However, NSC said due to MCA’s refusal to settle the assessment tax arrears, which had to be paid by SP Setia, the developer had filed a lawsuit in court and the court ruled that MCA should carry out the responsibility or see Kinrara Oval seized if the court decision was not complied with.
NSC also informed that following SP Setia’s legal action, neither KBS nor NSC could help MCA solve the problem.
The national sports governing body further believes that the legal issue can be resolved if the national cricket body accepts the fact that the land that houses Kinrara Oval belongs to Perumahan Kinrara Berhad and SP Setia and MCA should consider other alternatives.
NSC is also confident that the national cricketers training programmes will not be disrupted as Sime Darby Properties has offered MCA a management takeover of Bayuemas Oval − a cricket training and competition centre, which has better facilities than Kinrara Oval − after the location was vacated by the Malay Cricket Association of Malaysia last year.
“MCA also has alternative training and competition centres, such as in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), which has served as a training centre for cricketers at the tertiary institution level, with the cooperation of the Malay Cricket Association of Malaysia and UKM.
“NSC is always ready to help MCA find the best alternatives to resolve this crisis and has even contacted SP Setia to postpone their action but SP Setia refuses to tolerate the matter any further,” said the statement. – The Vibes, April 6, 2022
