PUTRAJAYA, Sept 4 — The Hindu shrines near a century-old temple on Jalan P. Ramlee in Kuala Lumpur that were moved to make way for a commercial development were only added after authorities checked site last year, a senior government official asserted today.
Federal Territories Deputy Minister Datuk Loga Bala Mohan said Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) officers only discovered the shrines set up in the annexe of the Sri Muniwarar Kaliyamman temple during a site visit in November last year.
“Before November 2012, it was just a canteen. Suddenly they put some deities there... they had converted the canteen to house deities,” he said at a press conference at his office here.
The temple, believed to be 101 years old, is at the centre of an on-going controversy surrounding the planned demolition of its annexe to make way for infrastructure work for a 31-storey office building to be built by Menara Hap Seng Sdn Bhd.
Nine people were arrested on September 1 during a scuffle between protesters and DBKL officers on duty to move the statues of deities, including MIC Youth chief T Mohan.
Mohan, who was released later the same day, claimed that no notice was issued to the temple management by DBKL to shift the three idols.
Loga noted that from the moment the project was mooted in late 2010 up until November last year, the annexe section had been operating as a food court — even after its operating licence lapsed in 2011.
Despite not having a licence, the food court still continued to operate, even when city hall officers visited the site sometime in mid-2012, he added.
Loga also said that the government has held a total of 43 engagements with stakeholders over the years regarding the project, including with DBKL, the developer and the temple committee.
He repeated, however, the government’s assurance that the temple’s main structure will not be demolished, and that the developer has agreed to bear the cost of beautifying and refurbishing the temple.
Loga also said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has instructed his ministry to gazette the temple’s land, which is currently owned by the Federal Territories Land and Mining Department, as a temple reserve.
On complaints that City Hall officers involved in the moving of the idols had worn shoes inside the premises, Loga admitted that it was true but promised to address the issue with the authorities.
“Yes, it happened, but it is part of their SOP (standard operating procedures) to wear shoes. We will sit down and talk with DBKL about this, on maybe setting up provisions on how to deal with temples,” he said.
