Kamalanathan accused Liu (centre) of maliciously linking him to the project’s approval. — File pic
The Putera MIC co-ordinator told a press conference in Parliament here that he had not been a councillor with the Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) in 2007, when the controversial Dolomite Park Avenue condominium project near Batu Caves was purportedly approved.
He demanded Liu issue a public apology for claiming he had been among those who approved the project, and accused the DAP leader of slander.
“Clearly his intention is bad. He wants to make Indians hate me... he feels that Indians will hate me if they knew I was responsible for this,” Kamalanathan said.
As proof, the Hulu Selangor MP showed reporters an article published in Berita Harian on December 4, 2004, in which he was named as among the 25 MPS councillors sworn it at the time for a two-year term ending 2006.
“I ended my term in 2006, so how the hell could I have approved a project in 2007?” he asked.
MIC and Gerakan have been leading protests against the 29-storey condominium development that they say was approved by the current Pakatan Rakyat (PR) government, a stone’s throw from the limestone cave that houses the popular Sri Maha Mariamman Devasathanam Temple and the venue of Malaysia’s largest gathering to celebrate Thaipusam, a Hindu festival.
In response, Liu revealed over the weekend that the project was given a “planning approval” in 2007 when the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition was still governing Selangor, the country’s wealthiest state.
“The explanation by Kohilan saying the ‘Planning Approval’ is not approval to implement is utterly ridiculous,” said Liu, referring to political foe Senator A. Kohilan’s remarks on the project earlier.
Kohilan, at the time, was a councillor with the MPS, which was in charge of development projects for the area.
“Where is there approval for implementation as said by Kohilan? The ‘Planning Approval’ is approval to the developer to build the project,” said Liu, the chairman of the Local Government, Research and Development Committee.
But Kamalanathan pointed out today that if the project had truly been approved in 2007, the PR government could have found a way to reverse the decision in the four years that it governed Selangor from March 2008.
“They had four-and-a-half years to ensure that the project is not carried out. Why didn’t they do that? I hope Ronnie Liu apologises,” he said.
Kamalanathan said he will be consulting his friends and lawyers on the possibility of mounting a defamation suit against Liu, should the latter refuse his demand to apologise.
He did not offer a deadline on Liu but said he wanted the apology “as soon as possible”.
“However, he accused me (in the media), that’s the same way I want the apology,” he said.
The Dolomite project, by developer Dolomite Properties Sdn Bhd, is a sensitive issue as Batu Caves is the religious focal point of Hindu Indians, who form the majority of the 1.7 million Indians ― a key voting group in many urban seats in Selangor.
Kohilan had claimed on Friday that the current PR government, which gained control of Selangor after it defeated BN in the 2008 general election, was behind the approval of Dolomite’s plans to develop the land.
On Friday, hundreds of Hindu and non-governmental activists joined a “Save Batu Caves” rally in the Batu Caves temple complex to protest against the condominium construction, saying the work was an environmental risk that would jeopardise the temple grounds but did not furnish proof to substantiate their allegations.
Kohilan, who was also present at the “Save Batu Caves” rally, admitted he had been aware of the project since 2007 but denied that the former BN administration had given approval for the project.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.