Ex-temple committee members lodge report over mismanagement

SEVERAL former members of Bukit Mertajam Sri Mangala Nayagi Amman Temple’s management committee have lodged a police report over alleged mismanagement at the temple, reported Malaysia Nanban.

The group, which comprises a former chairman, secretary and treasurer, claimed that the financial accounts between 2013 and 2017 had not been published and the 2018 AGM apparently could not account for significant sums of money which should have been in the coffers.

The temple has also put a stop to wedding and engagement functions at the premises without an explanation and even delayed a planned renovation slated for 2016.

They claimed that the funeral rites fee was increased and the education endowment was dissolved.

The former office bearers also claimed that the membership at the 135-year-old temple had dropped to 70 from more than 300.

The group urged the management committee to explain the matter and produce the proper accounts to avoid action by the authorities, including losing its registration due to the irregularities.

> Malaysia Nanban also reported that 15 pregnant and post-partum women in Tamil Nadu have died as a result of receiving contaminated blood.

An audit in the state found that the cases occurred in government hospitals in three districts recently.

The blood which was supplied by blood banks had been approved as safe for transfusions despite having been stored in unsuitable conditions.

Senior doctors and officials who conducted the audit identified 15 women so far who died of complications from the transfusions from such blood. Investigations are ongoing.