SUBANG JAYA, Nov 27 ― Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders today assured that the 147-year-old Sri Maha Mariamman Devasthanam temple in USJ 25 here will stay put until a solution can be found with regards to its land dispute with One City Development Sdn Bhd.
In a joint press conference, Selangor state executive council member V. Ganabatirau, Human Resource Minister M. Kulasegaran and Unity and Social Wellbeing Minister P. Waytha Moorthy assured temple devotees and its members that the Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had also promised to look into the matter.
“This morning, I have conducted a meeting with Prime Minister, and he has expressed his worries over the issue. As I’ve stated before, I will bring forward the grouses of the people here to the attention of the Prime Minister.
They want this temple to be maintained here. So this matter must be discussed at the highest level and also must be discussed with Selangor state government, and the YB Ganabatirau also has given his word to me that he will discuss with the Selangor menteri besar to settle this problem.
“Going forward, on the part of the government, and I also believe the state government, this temple will not be abolished until a solution is found,” Waytha Moorthy said, to cheers and applause by onlookers and temple supporters.
Waytha Moorthy said that he would also be meeting with Attorney-General Tommy Thomas, to seek the easiest solution to the problem, to enable the temple to continue operating on its current plot.
Waytha Moorthy also called for calm and urged temple supporters as well as members of the public to not speculate and allow the police to do their jobs.
“In addition to that, we are also concerned that there are some people from both sides who have been injured, and also one fireman was also heavily injured along with few of our friends from both sides. So I, in my meeting with the temple members, have asked that they hold special prayers so they will all be safe, later in the evening," Waytha Moorthy added.
Kulasegaran also echoed his colleague's sentiment.
He said that several PH ministers had wanted to come yesterday after news of the riot broke out, but were advised against the idea by the temple taskforce.
"But what's more important is that we want to being a solution that is definite with regard to this matter, and YB Waytha Moorthy and I will be heading straight to the Prime Minister to discuss and bring a definitive solution to this matter," Kulasegaran said, adding that the USJ 25 temple is not the only one facing such a problem.
Groups of people had gathered at the temple late last night after the area was attacked and desecrated by unknown vandals, but tempers soon flared and the assembly turned rowdy with acts of vandalism committed.
At about 2.10am yesterday, a group marched from the temple to MCT Tower located one kilometre down the road and began hurling stones and smashing the building’s glass facade.
In the scuffle, one of the mob grabbed Malay Mail photographer Mohamad Azinuddin Ghazali's camera and forcibly removed the memory card. Another person threw a fist-sized stone at Azinuddin but did not injure him.
A fireman however was beaten by several mobsters, landing the 24-year-old in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), fighting for his life.
The fireman, Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim, was a member of the Subang Jaya Emergency Response System (EMRS) unit.
Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin, who visited the officer at the Subang Jaya Medical Centre (SJMC), said that the fireman suffered from multiple broken ribs, plus bruises on his chest and abdomen.
