The Selangor government has assured that the Sri Maha Mariamman temple in Subang at the heart of a land dispute and recent riots will not be demolished until a resolution is reached sometime next year.
According to state menteri besar Amirudin Shari (above), the future of the temple is to be determined in a court proceeding set for Jan 11.
"Until a comprehensive resolution is found, I guarantee no demolition of the temple involved or any legal action. On Jan 11, there will be a court proceeding involving an injunction so that no demolition or obstruction of demolition can take place (thereafter).
"So from now until January […] we will maintain the temple," he said in a press conference at the state assembly building today.
Amirudin also warned against gatherings or provocations that could cause a repeat of the past days' disturbances.
He added the state government will also play the role of a "middleman" to initiate discussions with all relevant parties and this is to begin no later than next Tuesday.
He said: "The Selangor government will begin negotiations with all parties involved to ensure the best possible resolution including several options being proposed by the state government."
'Gov't will follow legal framework'
The Sungai Tua assemblyperson denied speculation that the state administration would use taxpayers' monies to acquire the current land on which the temple is sitting on.
In a statement sent out to the media earlier, Amirudin said such a move would not be financially viable for the state.
He urged Malaysians to await a formal announcement by the state government and treat information from any other source as "pure speculation" till then.
His statement read: "The Selangor state government wants to address and put a stop to rumours that are circulating saying that the Selangor government will acquire the land.
"This is untrue and very misleading. The Selangor government has ruled out acquiring the land as it will incur huge financial implications on taxpayers' money and set a bad precedent for future cases.
"As the state government, we are committed to upholding the rule of law and acting according to and within the legal framework."
He added that he had met with Minister in the Prime Minister's Department P Waythamoorthy, Deputy Rural Development Minister R Sivarasa, Selangor exco member V Ganabatirau and Sentosa assemblyperson G Gunaraj to discuss the temple matter.
The 127-year-old Sri Maha Mariamman temple in Subang Jaya has been involved in a land dispute with private developer One City Development for years and had been scheduled for relocation in accordance with a 2014 consent judgement.
However, devotees have objected to the relocation.
This is led to a clash between devotees guarding the temple and a group of men allegedly hired by individuals linked to the developer to secure the site in the early hours of Monday, Nov 26, to facilitate the relocation.
The clash turned violent with cars being torched. This led to the second day of rioting after over a thousand people gathered at the site the next day which aside from more cars being torched also resulted in the One City Mall building nearby being vandalised and a firefighter sustaining life-threatening injuries. - Mkini
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