Mohamad Zahari (seated at table, third from left) with the award recipients. — KAMARUL ARIFFIN/The Star
PETALING Jaya City Council (MBPJ) plans to build the city’s first pickleball courts at The Spine@PJKita in Kelana Jaya as the sport continues to gain interest from the public.
Mayor Mohamad Zahari Samingon said MBPJ has already appointed a vendor after a tender process took place to build six pickleball courts near the futsal courts at Dewan D’Kelana multipurpose hall in Petaling Jaya.
He said construction for the project was scheduled to begin January next year, adding that the local council awarded the contract following the approval of the Selangor state executive council.
“The pickleball courts will be housed in covered and open spaces at the venue,” he said, adding that in Selangor, the Subang Jaya City Council was the first to have pickleball courts.
The decision to have pickleball courts came after Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari announced, when tabling the state’s Budget 2025, that the state would introduce it as a medal sport when it hosts the 2026 Malaysia Games (Sukma).
Amirudin said sports experts had also projected that the Asian region would become the world’s hub for pickleball, with the emergence of an additional 100 million players in the next five years.
Mohamad Zahari was speaking after presenting awards to recipients of MBPJ’s Clean Food Premises and Toilets programme in conjunction with World Toilet Day 2024 at the Petaling Jaya Civic Centre.
The awards ceremony was held to recognise operators and owners for their efforts and initiatives in keeping food premises and public toilets clean.
They were assessed based on criteria set by MBPJ, in accordance with government guidelines.
A total of 119 recipients were presented awards at the event.
These included 90 for the clean food premises category and 29 for the clean public toilets category.
All premises that received this recognition had a high level of cleanliness, with assessment scores exceeding 86% for food premises and 91% for public toilets.
On another matter, Mohamad Zahari said more recycling centres could be built in Petaling Jaya, depending on the availability of suitable locations.
MBPJ currently had the PJ Eco Recycling Plaza at Sungai Way Free Trade Industrial Zone that was a collection centre for recyclable materials and sold pre-loved items at affordable prices.
It also had the Smart Waste Solution Lab in SS2, a pilot project launched in May 2017 that processed food waste into liquid fertiliser, biogas and detergent.
