A Buddhist group has claimed that the Hulu Selangor District Council (MDHS) local plan draft was not written in the spirit of the constitution.

The draft plan states that "building of places of worship for non-Muslims...is in adherence to the approval from and monitoring by MDHS to ensure that the number does not exceed necessity".

This goes aNONEgainst Article 11 of the Federal Constitution, which protects the freedom of religion, said Selangor Buddhist Development Committee Head Loka Ng Sai Kai (right).

Ng spoke on behalf of 18 Selangor Buddhist groups, who submitted their proposals for draft plans by five councils in Ampang Jaya, Selayang, Kuala Langat, Kajang and Hulu Selangor.

The submission followed a call by local councils for the public feedback by Jan 31 on their draft local plans for 2020.

Ng added that the draft plans are not in accordance with federal and state guidelines on provisions for places of worship.

"The guidelines stipulate that land should be allocated for a place of worship for every 2500 devotees or 5000 residents," he said.

Based on this guideline, the five local councils have projected that 266 Buddhist temples would be required to cater to the growing the Buddhist population in the areas by 2020.

However, as NONEsome areas were deemed to have enough temples, only seven plots of land have been reserved for non-Muslim places of worship.

"But the 334 temples marked in the Kuala Selangor, Kajang and Hulu Selangor included informal shrines," Ng said, representing the second largest religion in the state.

In Selayang and Ampang Jaya, plots of land were allocated for non-Muslim places of worship only upon request, but many groups have had their requests denied.

"We have applied for the vacant land next to our temple for the past 10 years and have been rejected thrice, as the government said the land is reserved as open space," said the Subang Jaya Buddhist Association Secretary James Khoo.

‘We'll be watching'

Land difficulties have driven most of the 200-odd registered Buddhist societies to operate in shop-lots and residential homes, risking a fine of up to RM2000.

The group also proposed that the state government provides allocation for crematoriums and columbaria, which would also ease the need for burial grounds.

"We urge the state government to adhere to the guidelines, so we don't have to make the same proposals and (face) objections every time," Ng said.

He added that similar proposals were made to Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) in 2008, but not much has improved.

"We know they listened to us and we can wait, but we can't be always waiting.

"We will not just submit proposals and just sleep. We expect to be invited for the public hearing and we'll be watching," he said.