Deal was struck over temple demolition, says MB’s special officer

IPOH: A compensation deal had already been agreed between the two disputing parties in the demolition of the 103-year-old Om Sri Arulmigu Veera Marathadi Muniandy temple, said Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir’s special officer C. Sivarraajh.

Sivarraajh said Perak Corporation Berhad had offered to compensate the temple owner RM200,000 as well as provide a piece of land in Chepor for the temple to be relocated from the current Meru Raya site.

He also said the demolished temple’s deities were not dumped in a nearby jungle as alleged by certain quarters but were instead placed at the new temple site.

He added that all the terms had been agreed upon by both parties in July, but the temple owner went against the agreement, saying that he did not want to be involved in the relocation or accept any compensation as he would be committing a sin if he did so.

The developer had kept to his end of the bargain and a bank draft for the compensation amount had already been issued to a lawyer, he added yesterday in response to a demonstration by some temple devotees outside the state secretariat building on Tuesday with a life-sized statue of deity Lord Muniandy.

The angry group of about 30 people led by Buntong assemblyman A. Sivasubramaniam alleged the temple was torn down on Sept 5 without prior warning while negotiations between the developer and the temple committee were still ongoing.

Sivarraajh said the temple head had been called for a meeting with him, Dr Zambry’s adviser V. Elango, the developer and MIC Tambun division chairman Shahul Hamid after the demonstration.

“He came to the meeting and handed us the draft agreement of the deal, but left after declining to say anything about the matter.

“I believe the temple committee members have been manipulated by the Opposition for political gains,” he added.