There are about 600 households in Kampung Kuala Ampang, a 50-year-old village which sits in the confluence of Ampang and Kelang rivers. About 30 minutes from the city centre, the village is located at the top of Jalan Hulu Kelang where it meets Jalan Ampang.

Its population of about 6,000 consists of 97 percent Chinese, and the rest being Indians with a handful Malay families. Beyond the rivers are other squatter areas, largely made up of Indonesian families

Kampung Kuala Ampang has three playing fields, two schools (one primary and one secondary), a market and two rows of shops - which include a provision shop, restaurants and a motorcycle repair shop - on either side of its lone main street.

The key attraction in this village has been, and still is, the Ulu Kelang Recreational Club (UKRC), a private club almost as old as the village and has been venue to many competitive football and basketball games.

The controversy surrounding the club started when the Selangor state government announced last month a mixed-housing development on its site.

The private club complained that the four-acre green lung - the size of about three football fields - should not be turned into a housing area.

The media soon joined the fray, gave its support to UKRC and called on the Youth and Sports Ministry to resolve the dispute. The media also claimed, erroneously, that the UKRC field was the only one available for the locals.

"Wrong! Lies!" the villagers hit back through their Kuala Ampang Village Safety and Development Committee (JKKK). They claimed that UKRC was a members-only club and its gates are only open to those who pay an annual fee.

Our field

The village committee said the field which the club is located belonged to them, and they had the right to decide what should happen there - they want a housing project that could help upgrade the village.

The dispute is quite straightforward - UKRC wants to maintain the field as it is and the private club is urging the state government to gazette the area as a green lung, while the residents want to reclaim their ownership of the field so that development can proceed.

This dispute has brought forward two separate, but important, issues to the forth - the protection of the environment and the right to housing.

There is also an important third element which is largely ignored - the development of sports.

There is no doubt that greeneries are a dying species in Selangor. Many spots have been de-gazetted by the state authorities to make way for housing projects.

UKRC supporters questioned why the state government should sacrifice a playing field for development. They argued if the state and the JKKK want to improve living conditions for the villagers, why don't they move elsewhere?

Indeed, the member of Parliament for this area, Zaleha Ismail, had in the past suggested the villagers move to Bukit Beruntung in Rawang - about 40km away - if they wanted to enjoy better housing facilities.

Redevelopment

needed

As far as the villagers are concerned, they refuse to budge because for them, Kampung Kuala Ampang is their birthplace. Many households still consist of extended families and almost everyone has a relative staying close by in the village.

The problem in Kampung Kuala Ampang is that the houses are old and in want of care.

Occupiers are however putting off much-needed renovations to their houses as they are waiting to buy out the shares of other occupants.

Thus, the village committee hopes that with the new housing project in the vicinity, it will solve these inter-related problems - they can have some of the extended families move into new houses, while the remaining one can redevelop the older houses and at the same time no one will have to leave the village.

There is only snag - UKRC is not willing to give its land for this purpose.

There are many claims and counterclaims which are being bandied about. The JKKK talks about how it help build the community hall and the basketball court in UKRC, and that villagers are now not allowed to make free use of these facilities.

Signature campaign

UKRC, on the other hand, says it has been doing a good job in maintaining the field for the past 46 years and that it provides recreation to the local villagers.

A signature campaign has also been launched by the club to save the field and to date has collected more than 1,600 names.

The JKKK disputed this, stating that its investigation into the signature campaign found that the club had the support of only 349 local villagers and the rest were non-villagers.

Some of the villagers have also lodged police reports after finding their names and addresses in the UKRC-sponsored petition.

Meanwhile, sports-lovers are disappointed over yet another playing field making way for development. One main reason, they argue, for the dismal condition of sports in the country, is the lack of playing fields.

They complained that the Youth and Sports Ministry had refused to be drawn into the dispute, claiming that the matter was out of its jurisdiction.

However, the village committee argued there are two other playing fields in the area that could be used for the development of sports.

True, but why destroy an already available and well-maintained playing field.

MB's intervention

There is no quick solution to the dispute. The recent interference of the state government will, at least for the time being, put the matter to rest.

Selangor Menteri Besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo will be meeting representatives of the club and the JKKK soon to iron out the problem.

However, his statement in the past week is bound to fail to satisfy everyone - the Selangor chief while ordering UKRC to hand over the field to Ampang Jaya Municipal Council, favoured the stopping of the housing project.

Khir said that the field will be gazetted as a green lung, but will be opened to all. The ultimate winner of this entire debacle may well be the sport-lovers.