Committee members of the Hindu temple at Jalan Raja Chulan turned down options presented to them following several meetings, says former deputy foreign minister Kohilan Pillay.
PETALING JAYA: Former deputy foreign minister Kohilan Pillay revealed that committee members of the KL Hindu temple demolished last month were given an offer early last year.
“Several mediation and negotiation meetings were held between the developer Hap Seng Land and the Sri Muneswarar Kaliyamman temple committee members, between February and March last year,” said Kohilan
“I was approached by Hindu groups asking me to mediate and in the interest of resolving the issue, I took on the job bona fide.”
Speaking to FMT, Kohilan said three meetings were held between the Hap Seng Land representative and the temple committee.
Also present during the meetings was MIC Federal Territory deputy chief Chandrasekhar Suppiah.
During the second meeting, the Hap Seng Land representative handed a RM50,000 cheque to the temple committee chairman as a token, to beautify the temple.
“I can confirm that the cheque was passed to the temple chairman because I was there and witnessed the handing over,” added Kohilan.
During the third negotiation meeting, two options were suggested.
“Option one is to re-build the existing temple but the size will be smaller with a five foot set back.
“The second option is that the developer is willing to give one acre of land in Puchong for the relocation of the temple with a fully built meditation centre and a low cost house for the temple priest,” said Kohilan.
However, the temple committee turned down the options due to differences of agreement within the committee members which is claimed to be made up of ‘family members’ and the temple building chairman.
“If this matter continues to be unsettled then it will create more problems.
“The temple committee chairman had then turned back and said to me, let them come and demolish the temple,” added Kohilan.
Talks failed
Kohilan said that the temple committee was not interested in the suggestions tabled and was adamant that they were not willing to compromise any of the land and wanted a temple built on the original perimeters.
“Earlier this year, Hap Seng Land asked me to re-negotiate with the temple committee, but the temple committee took a court order injunction instead,” he said.
It is being speculated that the temple committee is now requesting for the rebuilding of a two storey temple this time around.
Situated in the heart of Kuala Lumpur’s golden triangle business hub and believed to have originally been built in 1911, the temple is deemed to be on DBKL’s reserve land for ‘road expansion, pedestrian pathways or drainage’.
Hap Seng Land is developing a 30-storey office building on an adjacent plot and can only get a Certificate of Fitness (CF) if it builds a walkway in line with DBKL requirements.
Last month, around 300 DBKL enforcement officers and police personnel demolished the temple without proper notice.
The temple had been issued an eviction notice on June 13, ordering it to vacate the premises before June 26. The eviction order was issued so that a developer could build a multi-storey building.
The Pakatan leaders were vocal in support of the issue until Padang Serai MP N Surendran was booted out from the parliament session where he tried to get parliament to discuss the temple’s dilemma. He now faces six months suspension from parliament .
PETALING JAYA: Former deputy foreign minister Kohilan Pillay revealed that committee members of the KL Hindu temple demolished last month were given an offer early last year.“Several mediation and negotiation meetings were held between the developer Hap Seng Land and the Sri Muneswarar Kaliyamman temple committee members, between February and March last year,” said Kohilan
“I was approached by Hindu groups asking me to mediate and in the interest of resolving the issue, I took on the job bona fide.”
Speaking to FMT, Kohilan said three meetings were held between the Hap Seng Land representative and the temple committee.
Also present during the meetings was MIC Federal Territory deputy chief Chandrasekhar Suppiah.
During the second meeting, the Hap Seng Land representative handed a RM50,000 cheque to the temple committee chairman as a token, to beautify the temple.
“I can confirm that the cheque was passed to the temple chairman because I was there and witnessed the handing over,” added Kohilan.
During the third negotiation meeting, two options were suggested.
“Option one is to re-build the existing temple but the size will be smaller with a five foot set back.
“The second option is that the developer is willing to give one acre of land in Puchong for the relocation of the temple with a fully built meditation centre and a low cost house for the temple priest,” said Kohilan.
However, the temple committee turned down the options due to differences of agreement within the committee members which is claimed to be made up of ‘family members’ and the temple building chairman.
“If this matter continues to be unsettled then it will create more problems.
“The temple committee chairman had then turned back and said to me, let them come and demolish the temple,” added Kohilan.
Talks failed
Kohilan said that the temple committee was not interested in the suggestions tabled and was adamant that they were not willing to compromise any of the land and wanted a temple built on the original perimeters.
“Earlier this year, Hap Seng Land asked me to re-negotiate with the temple committee, but the temple committee took a court order injunction instead,” he said.
It is being speculated that the temple committee is now requesting for the rebuilding of a two storey temple this time around.
Situated in the heart of Kuala Lumpur’s golden triangle business hub and believed to have originally been built in 1911, the temple is deemed to be on DBKL’s reserve land for ‘road expansion, pedestrian pathways or drainage’.
Hap Seng Land is developing a 30-storey office building on an adjacent plot and can only get a Certificate of Fitness (CF) if it builds a walkway in line with DBKL requirements.
Last month, around 300 DBKL enforcement officers and police personnel demolished the temple without proper notice.
The temple had been issued an eviction notice on June 13, ordering it to vacate the premises before June 26. The eviction order was issued so that a developer could build a multi-storey building.
The Pakatan leaders were vocal in support of the issue until Padang Serai MP N Surendran was booted out from the parliament session where he tried to get parliament to discuss the temple’s dilemma. He now faces six months suspension from parliament .
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