Temple access road: Exco says 'settled', committee wants it in writing

 

The long-standing dispute over road access to the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Taman Koperasi Cuepacs, Kajang, has finally been resolved after the temple management agreed to the Selangor government’s original proposal.

Selangor Human Resources and Poverty Eradication exco V Papparaidu said this followed a meeting yesterday afternoon to provide a detailed explanation of government procedures and decisions.

“Previously, there were several communication errors between the temple and the administration.

“After the detailed explanation I provided regarding the procedures and the decisions made, the temple management agreed to accept the original proposal decided by the state government.

“Matters like this do not need to be blown out of proportion, leading to misunderstandings. I thank the temple management for their willingness to discuss this for our mutual interest,” he said.

Papparaidu stressed that open consultation and dialogue are the best ways to resolve misunderstandings among the community regarding such issues.

V Papparaidu

Several additions

When contacted, temple committee deputy chairperson Tanabalan Arumugam explained that the temple agreed to the state government’s plan with several additions to the road construction.

“In the meeting with the exco, he promised the proposed new road would connect the temple to Taman Desa Baru (a 50m road to the temple) and also Taman Koperasi Cuepacs.

“This means there will be three roads to the temple. One is only 50m, another is 150m, and the state government’s original proposal is 6km long,” he said.

However, Tanabalan said the temple would only be convinced if the state government or Kajang Municipal Council offered the solution in writing.

“We will give the state government the opportunity to resolve this issue. What is important is that there must be black and white,” he said.

Heated debate

Previously, the issue became a subject of heated debate after the temple management openly rejected the proposal to build a new 383m road connecting the house of worship directly to Jalan Sungai Long.

The temple has been registered since 1988, but its construction was often delayed due to unresolved road access issues for over a decade.

Tanabalan had claimed the proposed RM3.3 million new road was unreasonable as it forced devotees to take a long detour despite an existing 50m route.

Amirudin Shari

He also questioned why the local authority withdrew the approval for the short route through the residential area, which he claimed was agreed upon before the leadership of Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari.

However, Papparaidu explained at the time that the decision to build the new road from Jalan Sungai Long was the “final solution” to comply with the set planning permission conditions. - Mkini