Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali said the candis were "part of our history" and must be protected for the sake of the future generations.
PETALING JAYA: The federal government should step in to protect the ancient candis in Bujang Valley if the state government does not have the resources to do so, said Perkasa today.
“If the Kedah state government does not have enough funds, the federal government must take care of it (candis),” said Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali.
On Thursday, Kedah exco for education Tajul Urus Mat Zain said that the state government’s move to gazette the candis in the state would result in Umno losing Malay votes, adding most houses there may have a candi underneath.
However, History Association of Malaysia (Kedah chapter) chairman Wan Shamsuddin Mohd Yusof lashed out at Tajul, saying that the candis were built by Malays of the past and the government must protect it.
“The candi were the result of the Malays’ workmanship. The carvings are different from candi (found) in India,” he said.
Kedah Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir had also said that it would be impossible to gazette all the candis as there ‘could be’ thousands of it.
He also said that the state government would have to compensate property owners for the use of their land, in order to gazette the candis.
“So it is going to come down to tens of millions of ringgit, which we really don’t have,” said Mukhriz.
But Syed Hassan said that it is compulsory for the government to protect the nation’s heritage for the sake of the future generation.
He also said that the government could develop the areas near the candis to become a tourism hub.
“It is part of our history. It will be good to take care of it (candis) for the sake of our younger generation,” said Syed Hassan.
Stop order
On the recent demolition of candi 11 in Sungai Batu, the Perkasa leader said developer Bandar Saujana Sdn Bhd would not have destroyed the ancient spot if the place was gazetted earlier.
“Probably if gazetted earlier, the developer would not have touched it,” said Syed Hassan.
Last week, Bujang Valley Study Circle, an NGO dedicated to researching the historical site told FMT that a private developer had bulldozed the candi in order to develop a housing project.
The NGO also claimed that that several candis had been destroyed in the last few years, in the name of development.
The Kedah state government has since issued a stop work order on the site, following a massive public uproar.
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