Could Gwo-Burne Hold the Key to End the Stalemate at Angsana Flats?

Sunday, 8 March 2009

Could Gwo-Burne Hold the Key to End the Stalemate at Angsana Flats?

Gwo-Burne stressing a point to JKP Zone 4 member Syed Azli Sham Syed Alwi (left).

Kelana Jaya MP Loh Gwo-Burne could hold the key to settling the stalemate between two groups of residents of the Angsana Flats in USJ1 who are boiling over the dispute of who the community hall in the area belongs to.

Today, Gwo-Burne showed up to listen to the grouses of the members of both groups. Separately he listened to both sides, meeting one group at a nearby drink stall while meeting the other at the disputed community hall which now bears the signage "Dewan Umno".

He told both sides to appoint several representatives to have a meeting between the two feuding parties, to end a deadlock which would bring benefit to the residents of the 1,700 units of low-cost flats.

Gwo-Burne also said he would meet the District Officer this Wednesday to ask why the transfer of the land and building to the Subang Jaya Municipal Council was not done properly, with a full report of the inventory of the said property.

"We want to find a solution to this dispute. I will help mediate and find a way for all the residents here to benefit from the hall," he told reporters.

The group who are now controlling the hall claim that the construction of the building was funded by Umno prior to last year's General Elections and insist that they had the right to name it as such.

The group opposing this move said the building was on government land and was built as a community hall for all and should not be controlled by what they termed as the "opposition party" in the State.

It is coming to a year now since the former community hall was taken over by a group claiming to be the residents association of the area. They took down the signage and replaced it with the present signage.

A KEMAS kindergarten (funded by the Rural Development Ministry) now occupies the hall most of the week and the group controlling it now insists anyone can apply to use it with at least 7 days notice.

Gwo-Burne stressing a point to another group of residents who insist the former community hall belongs to UMNO.

The situation at Angsana is what the Malay proverb gajah sama gajah bergaduh pelandok mati di tengah-tengah.

There will be no winner, only losers. The result of this dispute will affect the people, no matter which faction they belong to.

It is understood the District Officer had earlier in the week sent a letter to the Subang Jaya Municipal Council informing them of the transfer of the disputed land and building to the latter.

MPSJ president Dato' Adnan Md Ikshan has been blamed for the slow action to take over the hall.

"We only received a letter from the District Officer informing us that they are transfering it to us. But nothing else accompanied the letter."

"We need to be furnished with all the documentation and also inventory of the place before we can decide our next step," he said.

This step which has been taken by the District Officer appears to be an easy way of "washing his hands" clean of a hot potato...and landing it on Adnan's lap.

ADUN Subang Jaya Hannah Yeoh had earlier last year even made an effort to meet up with Rural Development Minister Tan Sri Muhamad Muhamad Taib, who is Selangor Umno chief.

She brought up the dispute about the community hall but until now, the latter has yet to make an effort to help clarify the situation.

The community in Angsana, irrespective of which political party they belong to, should bury their hatchet and drop their suspicions of one another, to find a way to work together for the benefit of the people.

Failure to do so would result in a stalemate (almost similar to the Perak scenario), bringing headaches, making enemies, and hardship to the community they claim to represent.

Kudos to Gwo-Burne who had the guts to walk over to the hall and talk to the residents. It took a lot of confidence to speak to them as a Member of Parliament, and not as a representative of the political party he represents.

At the end of the day, a community hall is a community hall, no matter what political party it belongs to.

The people are the owners of the hall...and it should be returned to them.