KUALA LUMPUR: The federal government has no authority to acquire the land on which the Seafield Sri Maha Mariaman Temple stands as issues pertaining to land lies on the prerogative of the state government, says Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“Land is a state matter. We have no right (to take over the land). We have rights only with regards to the riots,” said the Prime Minister.
On Wednesday (Nov 28), sources told The Star that the Selangor government will acquire the land and allow the temple to remain at the location.
Selangor Mentri Besar Amirudin Shari is set to make an announcement with regards to that matter at a press conference on Thursday (Nov 29) afternoon.
According to Dr Mahathir, the High Court had given the green light to the owner of the land to relocate the Hindu temple three years ago.
“But the people in charge there (of the temple) has not done anything for three years. For three years, they refused… so, I believe the developer is trying to move the temple by themselves, where in the process, they have used the Malays.
“We don’t ask Malays to protect Hindu temples as much as we don’t ask Hindus to protect mosques. So this incident is a result of that,” he said at a press conference in Parliament on Thursday (Nov 29).
“But we are still bound by the court’s decision. If the state government wants to do it (acquire land), it has to take action to do it, if they can take back the land,” he added.
Earlier on Thursday, the High Court rejected a bid to block the relocation of the USJ 25 temple, which has been the centre of riots this week.
Commenting on the High Court’s decision, Dr Mahathir said that the temple has three layers of courts to appeal against the ruling.
“We have three layers of courts. If the first layer makes a decision, you can appeal to the second and then you can appeal to the third.
“Finally, if the third layer says something, that is final,” he said.
Dr Mahathir also reiterated that the federal government will find ways to address issues pertaining to land and places of worship, in order to ensure that similar incidents to the USJ 25 temple fracas do not repeat itself in future.
“One of the problems with such incidents is that places of worship are built on land that does not belong to them.”
Dr Mahathir said that in future, all places of worship must acquire the state government’s permission before any constructions can be commenced.
A scuffle occurred in the wee hours of Nov 26, stemming from a dispute between the temple’s committee and a developer, who is the owner of the land where the temple is located.
So far, 30 people were arrested and on Wednesday (Nov 28), Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin alleged that the lawyers of the developer had hired Malay thugs, which had led to a two-day riot. Several people were injured and vehicles were torched.
The temple is sitting on a land owned by One City Development, a subsidiary of Bursa Malaysia-listed MCT Bhd through MCT Consortium Bhd.
One City has since denied Muhyiddin’s allegation.
Asked if the Federal government would take action against One City, Dr Mahathir said, “If there is any law that is broken, the law will apply.” – THE STAR
MB seeks amicable settlement to temple issue
SELANGOR Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari said the state is looking to negotiate an amicable settlement to the Seafield Sri Mahamariamman temple land dispute.
He said the state government currently had no plans to acquire the land on which the temple is located on behalf of the temple committee.
“I cannot say how we hope to help resolve this but we are in talks with the parties involved. The cost of acquiring the land is high,” he said
Amirudin said acquiring the land would be unfair to taxpayers in Selangor.
He cautioned the parties involved to remain calm, not to hold any assembly, refrain from making any forms of provocative statements and adhere to orders by the police to maintain peace and public order.
The Malaysian Insight, quoting sources, reported yesterday that the state government will take over the land under dispute in Subang.
They said the instruction had come from Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and that Amirudin had agreed to it.
“The menteri besar will be making the announcement tomorrow. The state will alienate the land to the temple. It will be acquired in the interest of the public,” said the source.
“As a result, the temple need not relocate. It can remain there.”
The state was expected to compensate the developer for the land takeover, the source said.
According to the sources, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department P. Waytha Moorthy and Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran met Dr Mahathir after their visit to the temple yesterday.
“The PM wanted to know what was happening. After he was briefed, he told the ministers to address the people’s concerns as soon as possible,” said the source.
The source said the PM then agreed for the land to be taken over by the government and given to the temple.
Another court grants stay order in twist to temple tussle
HOURS after a court rejected an injunction application by a set of devotees, another court granted an interim order to stop One City Development from taking over the land that the Sri Maha Mariamman temple in Seafield sits on.
The second hearing took place before Shah Alam High Court judge Wong Kian Kheong, who allowed the interim injunction to restrain the developer from taking any steps as regards the possession of the temple.
The interim injunction is in place until the disposal of the application for injunction on January 11, 2019.
The injunction application was filed by M. Ramachandran and 49 others against seven defendants, including One City, the Selangor government and K. Chellappa, the former temple committee president.
According to the plaintiffs’ lawyer A. Vasanthi, the application this morning was part of a suit filed on November 23 based on allegations of fraud and conspiracy between Chellappa and One City in obtaining a consent judgment in 2014 which allowed the developer to take over the land.
She said the developer had pledged not to take any steps as regards the temple until disposal of the application for injunction is settled.
The new development brings added confusion to the status of the temple, with the government also saying it was looking at an amicable solution.
Earlier today, another Shah Alam court, presided by justice M. Gunalam rejected an application by three devotees of the temple to restrain One City from taking over the land.
This bid was filed by S. Thangaraju, M. Mohanakhrishnan and S. Nagarajah.
One City’s lawyer, Claudia Cheah Pek Yee, told reporters this morning that the court rejected the application as the trio had no locus standi on the matter, and that the developer is the legal owner of the land.
That earlier ruling meant that the consent judgment for the relocation of the temple remains.
The original consent judgment was part of a court solution in 2014 involving One City, the Selangor government and two claimants to the temple management – Chellappa and M. Nagaraju.
Both Chellappa and Nagaraju, who were involved in a separate legal battle over control of the temple management, agreed to hand back the land that the temple sits on to One City after the developer consented to donate RM1.5 million for the construction of a new temple on one of two plots of land given by the company.
Chellappa has since been named as the temple manager, but Nagaraju refuses to abide by the consent judgment to relocate.
After the temple gave up the rights to one of the two plots of land, One City gave it another RM1 million in compensation.
It is the consent judgment that the second case is contesting, said lawyer Vasanthi.
The tussle over the temple became a flashpoint when armed men stormed the house of worship and its devotees in the early hours of November 26, just days before the expiry of the developer’s eviction notice.
The following day, some unidentified men ransacked the developer’s office, in what appears to be a retaliatory action.
The police have made about 30 arrests, including a legal officer from the developer who is accused of paying the thugs to attack the temple.
The government has said the incident was not racial but a criminal act that will be punished. – the malaysian insight
THE STAR / THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT
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