The new management of the PJ Sports Centre in Lorong Sultan cannot arbitrarily increase rentals too high for tenants, says Petaling Jaya mayor Mohamad Zahri Samingon (pic).
He said this when asked about complaints from tenants of the centre, which was formerly known as PJ Palms Sports Centre, over the increase of rent from 30% to 300%.
Mohamad Zahri said the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ), which owns the land, would investigate the matter.
The centre’s operations was taken over last September by Kumpulan TDS Sdn Bhd.
“Based on the arrangement and terms, the company cannot just increase rentals. I will need to look into this. It will take time,” he told StarMetro, adding that Kumpulan TDS was paying RM50,800 a month in rental to MBPJ.
He said the MBPJ had received several proposals to redevelop the area during the tender process last year.
The centre was previously run by Sepang Mekar Sdn Bhd, which had been managing it since 2011.
On claims that the centre only had one main exit and entrance, Mohamad Zahri said there should be two emergency exits.
“We need to check on this too because MBPJ is still the landlord,” he said, adding that the city council would pay a visit to the premises soon.
In a StarMetro report “PJ Palms swimming pool will continue to serve the public” in July last year, the mayor said despite the contract with Sepang Mekar ending, the assets would remain unchanged. —
