Fate of hockey stadium undecided

By Tan Karr Wei
http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2010/10/15/central/7228343&sec=central

TWO weeks after the one-week deadline given by Petaling Jaya mayor Datuk Mohamad Roslan Sakiman, no decision has been made on the fate of the Petaling Jaya hockey stadium.

MBPJ public relations officer Zainun Zakaria said the council had not reached a decision and that the committee was scheduled to meet today.

During the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) full board meeting in September, councillor Latheefa Koya had asked for the decision to upgrade and maintain the stadium in Jalan Selangor to be brought back to the Culture, Tourism, Youth and Sport sub-committee.

The issue went back to the August full board meeting when Latheefa and Bukit Gasing assemblyman Edward Lee debated on the issue.

Subject of controversy: The Petaling Jaya hockey stadium along Jalan Selangor.

Latheefa was in favour of turning the stadium into a multi-purpose sports complex while Lee said the stadium should be retained.

Because the stadium was a public facility, councillor Cynthia Gabriel suggested that the discussions should not be limited to the councillors and assemblymen in the area but should involve everyone in the council.

On Sept 20, the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) wrote to Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim to appeal for the stadium to be retained.

In the letter signed by MHF president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah and copied to the mayor, the association appealed to the state to retain and upgrade the stadium instead of changing it into a multi-purpose sports complex.

He said the stadium was badly needed for the development of the sport since there were currently only two stadiums in Selangor, with the other in Pandamaran, Klang.

If the stadium was not retained, there would not be enough facilities to support the sport as the stadiums have been widely used by hockey clubs, schools and the Selangor Hockey Association.

When contacted, Lee said he was invited for today’s meeting and would fight hard for it to be retained.

“I see no reason why it should become a multi-purpose complex. It would cost the ratepayers a lot of money and does MBPJ even have the funds for it? If they do have funds, they should be using it to upgrade existing sports facilities around Petaling Jaya,” he said.

Lee added that the meeting was initially scheduled for last week but he was only given a six-hour notice to attend it.