Council gives green light to Batu Caves
Temple committee to resend paperwork while MPS officers monitor ongoing renovation
GOMBAK: The air of uncertainty over the ongoing renovation work at Batu Caves has been cleared with the green light granted after a meeting between the temple’s committee and Selayang Municipal Council (MPS).
MPS president Suliman Abd Rahman clarified that the work had yet to receive approval from the council as it was still going through the application papers.
He said the temple committee had sent the council a notice of the renovation work last year.
“Actually, there is some miscommunication,” he said yesterday.
“The temple already submitted a proposal to upgrade this area but while processing the application, there was a misunderstanding on the land status because some parts belong to the Government and some to the temple,” he said.
“It seems the process of clarifying the land ownership status and finding a Principle Submitting Person (PSP) to monitor the works somehow got lost in the mix, contributing to the miscommunication.”
Council officers will monitor the ongoing renovation, while the higher-ups will pore through the blueprints and paperwork to be re-sent by the temple committee.
“We are not here because we want to punish. It’s not like that. We want them to come back to us and give all the documents.
“That’s why we stressed that the temple committee must take these precautions very seriously.
“Batu Caves is our main product for tourism. We don’t want to jeopardise the visitors who come here,” Suliman said.
Work at the famed religious and tourist site is said to have begun last year for the temple’s consecration ceremony in 2017. It involved building a fourth staircase, extending the temple at the bottom of the stairs and concrete grading by the stairs to allow water to flow down from the hilltop and prevent landslides.
The Star frontpaged a story on Wednesday how the iconic Batu Caves temple was getting a makeover before Thaipusam in February, but the temple committee did not have the local council’s permission and MPS had served it with a warning notice.
Speaking after the meeting with MPS, Sri Maha Mariamman Temple trustee Datuk N. Sivakumar stressed that the work was mainly to “beautify” the temple and that no new structures were being erected.
“It must go on because this is going to be for our 12-year prayers next year. We are just painting the statues and upgrading things. There are no new structures,” he said. Suliman agreed. “If the temple wants to repaint Lord Muruga, that is okay,” he said.
Last year, 1.4 million people visited the Batu Caves during Thaipusam.