 |
| Ong's former service centre is all but abandoned -- Sunpix by James Hyams |
AMPANG (July 18, 2010): When it wrested Selangor from the Barisan Nasional in 2008, the new Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state government proceeded to take over BN-run community centres which they claimed had been used for political purposes.
But two years on, some of these centres which were legitimately used as balai raya and pusat komuniti in the past, have remained unoccupied and unused, with some on the verge of neglect.
In Ampang Jaya, halls which were regularly used by the community for various activities have seen better days. One case in point is the Taman Muda Community Activity Centre where Pandan MP Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat used to operate his service centre from.
His public relations officer R. Chandran said before the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) took over the facilities, residents were free to organise various activities ranging from tai-chi to line-dancing almost daily.
“This place was more alive than what it is now.
“It’s dead and neglected and students abuse the place because they come in after school hours and drink alcohol and sniff glue,” Chandran said, pointing to the unkempt grounds and broken window panes.
Ong added that while he may have run his office from the service centre, it was first and foremost a community hub for his constituents.
“If they want to deprive me of my service centre, fine; but they are also depriving the people of their community centre,” Ong said, when met at his new office in a shop-lot near Taman Maluri, Cheras.
Community leader M. Thomas, however feels the repossession of the community centres by the local council was in the best interests of the overall community.
“When Umno was running the show it was an absent style of running the community centres,” he said.
“They gave it to the cronies to run cooking classes, set up small businesses, and do whatever activities they wanted. The buildings were poorly maintained even then," he said, adding that the present government has promised to deal with the matter.
Thomas also said the current system employed at the community centres is better.
“They charge the public for the use of the community centres. This is revenue so they can maintain the buildings and the grounds,” he explained.
Ong, however said during his time, people were not charged to use such facilities.
When contacted, Teratai assemblywoman Jenice Lee said the community halls were open to the public for a minimum charge.
“There are still activities like dancing classes, tai-chi, meetings, including those held by Umno, and weddings,” she said.
However, she said the Taman Muda Community Activity Centre previously used by Ong was an exception to this.
“This is because there are too many partitions in the hall, so it is no longer a hall but an office.
“But MPAJ is preparing for necessary renovations to be made so it will become a hall again,” Lee added.
She said Ong had occupied the hall without paying any fees, unlike the PR reps who rent shop lots to house their service centres.
Lee said she had to fork out RM30,000 from her allowance to carry out renovations at community halls in her constituency over the past year to make it more people-friendly.
State exco for local government, study and research Ronnie Liu, when approached insists that the repossession of community halls and activity centres were not politically motivated, but were instead conducted by the state government to ‘right the wrongs of the past.’
He quashed allegations that the PR government was flexing its muscles and depriving the local community access to the community halls.
“It has nothing to do with politics. It is the policy of the state government to take back all structures that were built without the permission of the council.
“We are just following the law and correcting the mistakes of the past. We are not victimising anybody,” he said.
Liu explained that while the local council takes over full control of the structures, the local community can continue using the premises for their activities.
“Anybody can apply to use the space within the structure, even political parties (if they want to use it as a service centre), but the only difference now is that they cannot hold the keys anymore,” he said.
When asked about the state of neglect some of the community halls are in, Liu said he could not comment on the matter.
“If they are neglected, I will direct them to the president of the local council to look into it.
“All of them must be managed and kept properly by the local council, (as they are) funded by the local council,” he said. -- theSun
www.thesundaily.com
No comments:
Post a Comment