The Youth and Sports Ministry has agreed to pay RM60,000 owed to a contractor involved in the laying and removal of the indoor hockey turf for the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games.
The decision was made during a meeting between the ministry and Kuckreja & Co at Wisma KBS in Putrajaya, yesterday.
Kuckreja & Co spokesman Allan Netto, in confirming the decision, said: “It was a brief meeting and I’m glad it ended on a positive note.”
“The ministry agreed to pay the RM60,000 within two weeks after receipt of all documentation.”
Netto, who was joined by Kuckreja & Co junior chief executive officer Rajpal Singh during the meeting, said ministry representatives said all payments would be made before the Malaysia Organising Committee (Masoc) closes its accounts on Aug 31. It remains unclear when Masoc will issue its first post-Games report.
The indoor hockey competition was held from Aug 21-26 at the Malaysian International Trade and Exhibition Centre.
The issue of the damaged artificial turf, kept locked in a store in Balakong, was revealed in a report by New Straits Times sports journalist Jujget Singh last week. The turf was apparently damaged when it was ripped off by unskilled workers who were removing other equipment from the venue immediately after the Games ended.
Kuckreja & Co insisted it was not contracted to remove the turf and was only told after the Games to carry out the task.
Netto had on July 26, told Twentytwo13 what had transpired before, during and after the SEA Games and that the ministry owed the company RM60,000 for re-laying and later removing the turf.
It is uncertain if other contractors have not been paid for work done for the Games.