The Malaysian Insider, 20 January 2016
BY LOW HAN SHAUN
The Sri Maha Mariamman Ladang Baemar temple in Kajang, Selangor is going to court in hopes of a resolution to its 10-year struggle for land– The Malaysian Insider pic by Low Han Shaun, January 12, 2016.
The Sri Maha Mariamman Ladang Baemar temple in Kajang, Selangor is suing the Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) over its refusal to allow it to move into a larger plot of land.
Alagendra Ramani, legal advisor to the temple committee, said the temple had no choice but to go to court to make sure that it received the 1.08 acre plot of land that it was promised.
MPKj had refused to allow the temple to move into a plot of land because its size exceeded the 10,000sq ft size limit for non-Muslim places of worship.
"MPKj has now offered us 12,000sq ft, which is still unacceptable. We will be taking this to court to see that we get the 1.08 acre plot of land which was promised us," he said in an interview with The Malaysian Insider.
Alagendra said Bandar Subang Sdn Bhd, the developer that had offered the land to the temple so that it could move out to make way for its project, had started work at the temple site.
"The developer is already developing the land near the temple. We see them clearing the land. If this is not settled soon, where are we to go?" he said.
He said the suit, which would be filed next week pending the approval of the temple committee, would fight for the temple to remain where it was, among others.
"We are looking for the temple to stay at its current location, for the 1.08 acres to be reduced to one acre to be secured, RM300,000 in compensation and for the developer to build an eight feet high wall to to demarcate the one acre of land that is secured.
Alagendra said the temple would also seek a restraining order for the developer to stop all ongoing work near the temple until the temple had been compensated.
"At the same time, the committee has also instructed the lawyer to issue a notice to the developer to fulfil the terms, which is a separate legal suit which will be filed against the developer," he said.
He said all these could be avoided if the council had approved the 1.08 acres of land, which the developer was more than happy to give to the temple.
The Malaysian Insider previously reported that the Kajang council had stopped the temple from moving into the 1.08 acre plot of land because council guidelines did not allow land for non-Muslim places of worship to exceed 10,000sq ft.
The temple’s battle to obtain land started in 2007 and remains unresolved to the satisfaction of MBKj, the developer and the temple committee to this day.
The Hindu temple sits on land in the former Braemar rubber estate owned by Harrison & Crossfield (M) Bhd.
Sometime in the 1980s, the owner sold the property spanning about 10,000 acres to several developers.
The buyer of the portion of land on which the temple stands was not allowed to proceed with its plan to build double-storey homes there until the temple was relocated. – January 20, 2016.
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