Source: TheStar.com.my

It’s a 15m trek from the main road into an oil palm estate on a gravel path, with trees on both sides and undergrowth all over. Suddenly, there is an open area, and surprise, surprise, it is a futsal court.

At least, it’s supposed to be a fustal court. Instead of open space, there is lalang growing out of cracks in the concrete. No one uses the court. The nearest homes are more than 500m away.

There are no signboards indicating the presence of the court and motorists on the main road will be hard-pressed to notice the court in Kampung Baru Chenderiang in Tapah, Perak.

The StarProbe team, too, took quite a while and asked around before being able to find the court, which is virtually sitting in the heavily wooded area, far from villages or residential areas.

The court is hidden from view, no thanks to overgrown creepers and wild trees. The surface of the court, too, is in bad shape with wild grass growing around it.

The fence around the court is broken, the goalposts and the basketball hoops are all missing.

This is one of the 2,200 Mal­aysia futsal-cum-basketball courts that have been built around the country for the community.

Under the scheme, the community is meant to maintain the courts and even rent them out to help pay for their maintenance.

The problem is there is no community here, only some wildlife.

According to a village resident, Mohamad Ali, 40, the court is a sheer waste of public funds.

“No one plays in the court because it is located in a jungle,” he said.

There are many such cases around the country.

At Batu 9, Jalan Kapar in Klang, a court is hidden in a coconut plantation, also without a proper road leading to the venue.

The court is filled with numerous discarded slippers.

In Batang Kali, Hulu Selangor, children are forced to stay on guard behind the goalposts because the fence is broken and the court is near a wooded area.

“Some of us have to be ball boys, otherwise the ball will fly out of the court and into the woods,” said a 15-year-old, who wished to be identified only as Azman.

A court at Green Street Homes in Bukit Kepayang, Rasah, in Negri Sem­bilan has its fencing on the verge of collapsing. The court has no gate and the broken goal posts are tied to the fence to keep them from falling over.

The gate had been dismantled and the basketball backboards and hoops are missing.

Another court in Kampung Batu Tiga in Temoh, Perak, also has missing basketball hoops and goal net. The goalposts are coated with heavy rust.

At another venue in Bandar Baru Slim River in Perak, boys are seen playing football in a badly damaged court. Its signboard is covered with creepers.

The condition of the futsal court at Padang Sekolah Lama Telok Malek, Jitra, in Kedah is not only bad but its signboard is faded. Despite the damaged goalposts and basketball court, the court has become a children’s playground.

At Taman Uda in Alor Setar, a few children were seen cycling inside the court.

In Johor, the StarProbe team found that many futsal courts were poorly maintained with damaged or broken signboards. Some of the courts are also filled with rubbish and used stuff, such as bottles and old bricks.

There are many more such cases in Johor, too.

At Kampung Dato Sulaiman Men­teri, the court is surrounded with rubbish and tall grass; at Taman Desa Cemerlang in Johor Baru, the basketball backboard is broken and the hoop bent; at Bandar Baru Permas Jaya in Masai, the signboard is on the ground and the toilets are in poor condition; and at Bandar Seri Alam, the fence is broken.





FP Staff --> info@futsalplanet.com