October 6, 2018 @ 6:28pm
THE five-acre Kinrara Oval is set to be reclaimed by Permodalan Nasional Berhad on Oct 31 to build condominiums, but still, Malaysia Cricket Association (MCA) are keeping their fingers crossed for a miracle.
And even though Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Rahman has yet to meet with MCA on the matter, it is said that he is working behind the scenes to stop this massacre of a sacred cricket ground.
MCA honorary secretary Iqbal Ali Kassim Ali confirmed they receive an eviction notice dated Oct 31, but said the fight has just started.
"We have met with the relevant authorities to try and solve the matter, but nothing is concrete yet. We are waiting to meet thje Sports Minister and hopefully he will have a solution on how to save the Kinrara Oval," said Iqbal.
Former Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had tweeted recently: "Please help @SyedSaddiq. I wrote to PNB as the land owner of the Oval to keep the grounds. One of my last few letters at KBS (Ministry of Sports). Also spoke to then Chairman. Hope you can follow up. Public funds used to upgrade for @KL2017. Now to be shut down and taken away."
Syed Saddiq had replied: "We already filed our objection before. Met up with the reps as well. This iconic ground must be defended.
Hopefully the new Chairman will hear our plight."
The new PNB chairman is Former Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz.
Yesterday a group made up of residents around the Oval as well as young cricketers held a protest at the Oval by holding plycards. Some of them read 'Save Kinrara Oval' and 'Don't Kill The Game'.
Iqbal said if the ground is snatched away, it will damage the future plans of MCA to make cricket a popular sport.
"Around the globe, cricket is No 2 on viewership, and in Malaysia it is a strong team-sport and ranked world no 27 and we play in Division Four. If we lose the Oval, it will not help in our cause to make it a better team sport in Malaysia.
"We are still working to stop the eviction order, and hopefully the Sports Minister can spare some time to meet us (MCA)," said Iqbal.
