'Duo not at meeting that okayed Batu Caves condo'

Deputy Foreign Minister A Kohilan Pillay and Hulu Selangor MP P Kamalanathan were absent from the Selayang Municipal Council’s (MPS) full board meeting that approved the controversial 29-storey condominium near the iconic Batu Caves temple when they were councillors.
“Yes. Kohilan (left) and Kamalanathan were not at the full board meeting,” a reliable source in MPS confirmed when contacted byMalaysiakini.

It is expected that MPS president Zainal Abidin Aala will issue a statement on the matter soon.

The plan for the massive condominium project near the historic Sri Subramaniar Temple in Batu Caves grabbed the spotlight after the temple committee, backed by MIC top guns, including former president S Samy Vellu, led a protest against the Selangor government.

Police reports lodged

However, Selangor executive councillor Ronnie Liu subsequentlyrevealed documents to show that the BN government had in 2007 approved the condominium project - considered by many to be an eyesore to the locality - when it controlled Selangor.

Liu was reported as saying that Kohilan and Kamalanathan were among those responsible for approving the condominium project.

However, both Kohilan and Kamalanathan have denied the accusation and lodged police reports on the matter.

Kohilan told Malaysiakini on Tuesday that he had nothing to do with the approval of the Dolomite condominium project because he did not sit on the MPS’ One Stop Centre (OSC) during his tenure as MPS councillor.

However, incumbent MPS councillor Lee Khai Loon refuted this, saying that all approvals from the OSC must be endorsed by the council before projects can be executed.