KUALA LUMPUR: The demolition of the Taman Sri Sinar Community Hall is not a sports issue but a matter of unauthorised occupation of public land.
Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh said this after a video went viral on social media showing an excavator demolishing the building and an angry crowd.
She said the issue did not involve race or sports.
The video depicts enforcement officers from Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and the Kuala Lumpur Land Office attempting to disperse the crowd for the demolition work and explaining their actions to MIC vice-president Datuk T. Mohan.
Yeoh said in a statement the Taman Sri Sinar Community Hall operators were given a grace period of 30 days to move out.
"Today, the Kuala Lumpur Land Office and DBKL attempted to demolish illegal structures adjacent to the Taman Sri Sinar Community Hall.
"This hall has been occupied by an unauthorised operator without approval, depriving local residents of a community space," she said, adding that DBKL, as the local authority responsible for community halls, had been trying to reclaim management rights of the hall for nearly a year.
She said the effort was part of a broader initiative across Kuala Lumpur to ensure that community halls were accessible to all residents and not monopolised by any single party.
"These efforts however, have been met with resistance."
She said numerous notices were issued to the operator to vacate the building but they were ignored.
"The operator even commenced work to expand the illegal structures.
"It is a matter of addressing unauthorised occupation of public land. We have been informed that a grace period of 30 days has now been given by the Kuala Lumpur Land Office to the operator to move their things out."