Dilapidated: The walkway leading into the long-abandoned school in Taman Danau Desa Kuala Lumpur, is falling to pieces as well. —S.S.KANESAN / The Star
A FORMER school that was abandoned for 15 years in Taman Danau Desa, Kuala Lumpur will be demolished and replaced with an international school catering to the middle income group.
SK Danau Perdana located at Jalan 1/109F in Taman Danau Desa in Jalan Kelang Lama was built at the cost of RM14.5mil in 2003.
In 2004, barely a year after it was opened, it was ordered to be closed and its pupils were transferred to a nearby school after part of the wall of the building collapsed.
Following the incident, the school was left abandoned and the site became the hangout of vagrants and drug addicts.
Workers hauling rubbish and debris from the school compound.
It was reported that apart from the wall giving way, the soil structure was deemed to be weak which resulted in cracks appearing all over the building.
For more than a decade, residents in the township were unhappy with the state of the abandoned building and the Government’s delay in repairing the damage.
As soon as it was abandoned, all the recyclable materials on the premises, including the drain covers, were stolen.
Reports of fire and open burning were lodged yet the authorities saw no urgency in resolving the matter despite public protest.
However, all that is about to change as the land which belongs to the Education Ministry is now in the process of being sold to a developer, who is planning to build an international school at the site.
StarMetro got in touch with property developer Aset Kayamas Sdn Bhd, which is in the process of acquiring the land.
The school which was built at a cost of RM14.5mil is now derelict.
“We are still talking with the ministry and the land office to build a new school at the site,” said executive director Michael Chai.
“We are looking at building an international school. But the current building must go, it is not fit for reuse,” Chai said.
Chai said that the company wants to give back to the community as it was one of their core values and there was a need for an international school in the township.
“We did our research and we found that within a 10km radius, there was no international school in the vicinity,” Chai added.
Asked to elaborate on the project, Chai said they did not have a specification yet but stressed that the school would be within the means of medium-income earners and offer education for children from ages six to 17 years old.
Workers clearing up the school compound.
“It’s our first school project to be honest. When we wanted to give back something to society, the idea of an education institution came to mind,” he said.
While negotiation is still pending over issues of legality and compensation, Chai said the company is hoping to start work on the land in the second quarter of next year.
Aset Kayamas is involved in the construction of 14 Federal Territories Affordable Homes Programme (Rumawip) projects in Kuala Lumpur by the FT Ministry.
When StarMetro visited the site last week, workers were at the site clearing the area.
About six workers were seen collecting debris and rubbish. The building itself is derelict, with openings on the roof and ceilings exposing it to the elements. The classrooms were filled with rubbish with graffiti all over the walls.
Plants and shrubs were growing between the gaps and crevices on rooftops and walls.
When contacted, Taman Desa Residents Association chairman Wong Chan Choy welcomed the decision to build an international school at the site as it was something that would benefit the community.
“For many years, we have been highlighting the eyesore the school became and the social problem that arose because of it; this is good news indeed,” he said.
Longtime resident, M. Parames who lives in Taman Danau Desa said: “Every day for the past 12 years since I moved in here, I wondered when the school will be demolished,” she said.
“It has been an ugly sight for so long. I have seen drug addicts hanging out there, carrying out open burning and polluting the environment. It’s good to find out that the site will be rehabilitated and restored as a proper school,” Parames added.
Resident Andrew Tan said that Taman Desa was already reeling from over development and that what the township needed were facilities and amenities that would benefit everyone and not just one section of the community.
