Tension over management of community hall in Jinjang Utara

Yee (right) wants the Tern Yung Gong association to be allowed to manage the community hall. — ONG SOON HIN/The Star

A LOCAL association in Jinjang Utara, Kuala Lumpur, is squabbling with authorities over the management of a community hall in the area.

The Tern Yung Gong (TYG) association said Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) had ordered them to surrender the keys to the venue, which they claimed they had been managing for the past 17 years.

TYG deputy chairman Lee Chor Hor said a meeting was held in January this year with DBKL to discuss the matter.

“We agreed to hand over one set of keys to DBKL, while TYG keeps the other,” he said at a press conference held at the community hall.

Local activist Yee Poh Ping, who was also present, said DBKL, however, had insisted during another meeting held later the same month that the association surrender all the keys.

“TYG has been given until April 7 to surrender the keys and vacate the hall,” Yee told StarMetro.

In 2019, DBKL initiated the takeover of community halls in Kuala Lumpur, citing various concerns.

Among them were that some halls were being managed by parties with political links, while others were badly maintained with some accumulating unpaid utility bills.

TYG reportedly handed over the management of the Jinjang Utara community hall to DBKL in August 2020.

However, TYG successfully negotiated with then Federal Territories minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa to regain control of the hall, said Yee.

“But after the new Federal Government was formed last year, Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng had urged DBKL to take back the hall,” he claimed.

“It is unfair for DBKL to simply take over the venue as TYG had spent money over the years upgrading the facilities,” he added.

Lim, when contacted, said the tenancy agreement between TYG and DBKL had lapsed and was not renewed.

He said this meant that the association had no legal basis to continue managing the venue.

“If they insist on being allowed to occupy the hall, they may have to take DBKL to court,” he added.