Land woes: Temple’s future at stake

A Hindu temple in Ulu Bernam has been slapped with an eviction notice by the land owner. It's devotees cry foul.

PETALING JAYA: A Hindu temple in Ulu Bernam is facing the threat of eviction because the land office rejected its application in 2008, four years after the document was submitted.

To make matters worse, the temple’s committee had only learned about the rejection last year and that the land had been leased to another individual for 99 years, starting in 2005.

The land owner had now slapped the temple with an eviction notice.

Previously, Selangor exco Dr Xavier Jayakumar advised the devotees to find another plot of land to relocate the 42-year-old temple.

Following this, the devotees submitted an application for a new plot of land but the Hulu Selangor Land Office rejected it, saying that the application must be done by a registered association.

V Maniam, who is the pro-tem secretary of the Sree Sivan Thirukovil devotees’ association, said an application was submitted to register the association last year.

However, he accused the Registrar of Societies of giving excuses. “They claim that they will call but they never did,” he said.

Prior to the temple’s construction in 1969, there was a poultry farm and a house on the land. In 2002, Maniam said the settlers was issued with a Temporary Occupation Licence (TOL) status.

He added in the early 1990s, settlers began to encroach the land, forcing the farm and the inhabitants of the house to shift.

In 2004, Maniam said a discussion was held with the then Ulu Bernam state assemblyman Idris Abu Bakar and Hulu Selangor MP G Palanivel.

The temple committee then agreed to relocate the temple somewhere closer to the main road.

“Problems began last year when the settlers put up barriers. This worsened after the Sivarathiri celebrations as they extended the fencing across the temple,” said Maniam.

When the temple committee held a discussion with the settlers, he added that the latter produced a land title that was obtained from the state authorities.

“We received an eviction notice previously in November. The deadline was February, but it was not enforced,” Maniam said, hoping that the state goverment would be more concerned on their plight.

Contacted later, Jeyakumar said since the temple was located on private land, the committee should negotiate with the land owner.

He also advised the committee to obtain an injunction to stop the eviction.