SHAH ALAM, 23 Oct 2009: The Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) today denied it had demolished a Hindu temple in Shah Alam on 21 Oct as claimed by certain quarters, saying it was merely an illegal structure erected for gambling activities that had been demolished.
Its deputy mayor, Mohtar Hani, said the illegal structure located on Jalan Persiaran Kerjaya, Glenmarie, Section U1, near here was built on the Selangor state government’s land without the approval from the MBSA.
“The illegal structure was a place for gamblers to get four-digit numbers, and not a place of worship as claimed. There is no specific name given for the structure,” he told reporters at his office near here.
He said this in response to a statement by MIC president Datuk Seri S Samy Vellu yesterday that the council had demolished a Hindu temple.
Mohtar also said the MBSA had received a written complaint from the Petaling District Public Works Department on 19 Jan this year pertaining to the illegal structure that was built on their land.
“Based on the letter, the MBSA carried an inspection on 16 Feb and found that there were six structures built without permission [of the MBSA], and immediately issued a warning notice to the owners concerned to demolish the illegal structures that were put up,” he said.
Mohtar said the owner of the structure, Muniandy Kathan, filed an appeal to the MBSA to be given a one-month grace period from 20 Feb to 20 March to relocate, but he failed to do so.
As such, Mohtar said, the MBSA had no choice but to demolish the structures on 21 Oct, since there was no action on the part of the owner.
Mohtar said the demolition was done in accordance with Section 70(1) of the Road, Drainage and Building Act 1974 for erecting a structure without the permission of the council.
Earlier, Selangor MIC Youth head Shanker Raj Ayanger, who visited the demolition site, said he would hand over a memorandum to Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim on Wednesday to protest against the demolition of the structure.
Shanker also said a report had been lodged at the Bukit Jelutong police station yesterday over the incident. — Bernama
