Defiant committee to rebuild temple

The committee also points the finger at a particular MBSA councillor for last Thursday's demolition of the 25-year-old shrine.

SHAH ALAM: The defiant committee of a temple demolished in Glenmarie here vowed to rebuild the structure at the same site.

Speaking to reporters, committee secretary A Manamohan said: “We did not receive any instructions from the state government, so why would we want to move to a new location?”

Last Thursday, Shah Alm City Council (MBSA) enforcement officers had demolished the shrine which was built some 25 years ago when the area was still a rubber estate.

In 2009, MBSA had sent a notice to the committee and later demolished the temple but it was rebuilt after PKR’s Kapar MP S Manikavasagm brought the matter to the attention of Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

This is the second time MBSA demolished the temple despite the state government sending out a circular stating that local councils cannot act unilaterally on matters related to religion.

Manamohan said the state government should bear the cost of rebuilding the temple.

The committee secretariat also blamed MBSA councillor Izham Hashim as being the person responsible for the latest incident.

“We heard that Izham ordered to demolish the temple because he received complaint about the temple being used for prayers to seek four-digit numbers; this is not true,” he said.

“We want the councillor and the enforcement officers to apologise,” he added, urging the state government to take action against those involved.

Manamohan also took a swipe at executive councillor Dr Xavier Jayakumar for defending MBSA, calling the PKR leader “useless”.

Jayakumar had blamed the temple committee for not checking the status of the land as the temple was sited on a road reserve area.

However, the committee claimed that the land was not for road reserve but designated for a landfill.

“It is a reserve land which is subject to MBSA’s usage. So the exco should check the land status before issuing any statement,” he added.

Earlier, PKR Subang MP R Sivarasa visited the site and promised to raise the matter during the next exco meeting.

“This is clear cut where MBSA is working against the state government’s policy,” he told reporters, calling the matter serious.

Sivarasa said the state government is waiting for MBSA’s report on the demolition.

Also present were Manikavasagam, PKR Kelana Jaya MP Loh Gwo Burne and PKR Seri Setia assemblyman Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.