PETALING JAYA, Dec 14 — The impasse over the relocation of Sri Maha Mariamman Devasthanam temple in Seafield, which resulted in a riot last month, may finally be resolved following a meeting between lawyers of the parties involved and Attorney General (AG) Tommy Thomas.

Thomas said in a statement today that the group had met at his office earlier this week and they were confident that an agreement can be reached for a fair and equitable solution to the protracted problems arising from the diverse and competing interests of all parties involved.

"In the spirit of consensus, and a give and take approach by all the parties concerned, an amicable resolution of all the matters in dispute can be achieved in the coming months,” he said.

As part of the settlement, he added they had agreed that — subject to terms to be agreed upon — developer One City Development Sdn Bhd will transfer one acre of land on which the temple is located to a trust to be administered by the High Court.

The AG, in the exercise of his powers as guardian of the public interest with regard to charitable trusts, will apply to the High Court, pursuant to Section 9 of the Government Proceedings Act 1956, for orders to constitute the trust and the appointment of trustees to manage the trust and the temple, Thomas said.

He added the High Court will be invited to appoint a Receiver, who will be a person of repute, standing and integrity acceptable to all the disputants, who as an officer of the Court will have control and direction over the trustees of the temple, and subject to Court supervision.

"At the appropriate time, the High Court will be invited to transfer the ownership of the land on which the temple is situated to the trustees. And in order to ensure impartiality and neutrality amongst the various groups in the temple, the attorney general hopes to be represented in all the applications before the High Court,” said Thomas.

The dispute over the temple begin after One City bought the land where it is located in the early 1990s. It led to the temple’s devotees being split into two factions — one for the relocation and the other insisting on staying put.

After several court cases and in spite of payments being made, the parties involved still could not reach an agreement and it, ultimately, resulted in the fracas on November 26, which left a fireman in critical condition after he was allegedly assaulted.

Police have received instructions from the deputy public prosecutor to charge 21 people in connection with the riot, including temple devotees and employees of One City.