SHAH ALAM, March 25 — The Selangor MIC Youth has taken the PKR-held state government to task for failing to fulfill its promise to build an Indian cultural centre although a sizeable allocation was set aside for the project.

Its chief, D. Kajendran said until now, there was no sign of the centre although the opposition pact had been ruling Selangor for the past 10 years.

He said former Selangor executive councillor Dr Xavier Jeyakumar had said the state government allocated RM2 million for the centre, with added funds to be sourced from the private sector.

"The Pakatan Rakyat-led state government should follow up on the idea for an Indian cultural centre. It cannot sideline the project simply because it was Barisan Nasional’s brainchild,” he said in an interview at the Bernama office here recently. 

Kajendran said the BN government, prior to the 2008 General Election had initially allocated RM2 million for the cultural centre and said the fund was with the current state government.

"As such, we want to know what happened to the overall RM4 million allocation meant for the construction of the centre?,” he asked.

On another note, Kajendran also took to task the Selangor Government for not keeping to its promise to provide land for the construction of a community hall beside a Hindu temple in Taman Sentosa under the Kota Raja parliamentary seat whereby, the launching ceremony for its construction took place almost six years ago.

"This is uncalled for, as the Indian community in the Kota Raja parliamentary constituency comprises the largest number of voters in the constituency, and there is not even one community hall built to cater to their needs,” he noted.

On the Pakatan Harapan manifesto for the coming 14th General Election (GE14) which was launched on March 8, Kajendran said Pakatan’s first promise that it would eradicate the statelessness of many Indians within the first 100 days of taking over the Federal Government was unrealistic.

"The manifesto also promises adequate space for houses of worship such as temples, but most Indians are aware that there were 23 temple demolitions in Selangor since the Pakatan Government took over,” he noted. — Bernama