Relief for LTAM, privatisation put on hold

Lawn Tennis Association of Malaysia (LTAM) can breathe a sigh of relief, for now at least — the privatisation of the National Tennis Centre (NTC) has been postponed.

LTAM secretary Rahizam Rahim disclosed that the decision was made following a meeting among the national body, Malaysia Stadium Corporation (PSM) and Sports Ministry recently.

“We met with the Sports Ministry chief secretary (Datuk Lokman Hakim Ali) and PSM chief executive officer Azman Fahmi Osman last week,” said Rahizam yesterday.

“The secretary has asked that the tender process be postponed and NTC returns to its current status (managed by PSM).

“This is good news for us as we do not have to worry about access to NTC, especially in terms of court usage.

“The chief secretary has also asked that LTAM and PSM discuss how it would be possible to manage NTC together, going forward. We could also involve some private parties to help reduce the maintenance cost of the facility.”

LTAM have, since early this year, raised concerns about handing full control of NTC to a private company whose main objective is to make profit from the centre.

They requested last month that the process be put on hold, as they were unhappy with the lack of transparency in the tender process.