KUALA LUMPUR: About 100 people turned up at the Ulu Kelang Recreation Club (UKRC) in Kuala Ampang near here to protest against the takeover of their field by the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ).
Council officers cordoned off the field in the morning, ahead of the evening protest yesterday.
Club chairman Andrew Gopal said they would take legal action against the council on the takeover.
“We were issued a notice last Friday. They did not produce a court order when they came to cordon off the field,” he told reporters.
We have been managing the land since the club started in 1958.
“It is unfair for MPAJ to seize the management of the field without proper notice or discussion.”
The council took over the field on Monday and, except for the clubhouse, will take charge of all facilities there.
These include the football field, basketball court and the empty spaces around the field.
With the takeover, the field has been renamed as Kuala Ampang MPAJ field.
Council deputy president and secretary Abdul Hamid Hussain had said that while the entire land was public land, the Selangor Government was allowing UKRC to buy the portion where the clubhouse is sited.
On this matter, Gopal said: “If the state government is willing to let us pay a premium for the field and the surrounding land, we are willing to do so.”
A resident, who wished to be known only as Lam, said the council had disregarded the efforts of the club committee which has been maintaining the field all these years.
“I have stayed in the area for over 50 years. The club used to be rundown and unkempt. Now it is well-tended and the residents and the public can enjoy the facilities,” said the 67-year-old.
Janice Loke, 48, said the field was regularly used for sporting activities.
“Many have said it is the best field around,” she said, and that now she is worried about how it would be maintained under the council.
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