The Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (MPPJ) and land developer Puncakdana Development Sdn Bhd said the owner of a demolished temple had been given ample time to vacate the premises and was also offered an alternative site.

Rebutting accusations leveled against them last week by residents of Kampung Sungai Kayu Ara and the Hindu Consultative Council (HCC), both MPPJ and the developer said they had exhausted all avenues of negotiations.

When contacted, MPPJ public relations officer Zainon Zakaria said the site was in an area marked for development under the state's Selangor Maju project and those living there were deemed squatters.

"They were offered low-cost flats in a nearby area. We delivered an eviction notice to them on July 22. As for the temple, it was not really a temple but a shrine erected in a house," she said.

Residents and the HCC had previously claimed that during the Aug 19 demolition and eviction process, the developer had used 60 Indonesian workers to destroy the temple with Molotov cocktails and burn it down.

They also said MPPJ and police personnel stood idly by, while this occurred. MPPJ has denied the accusation.

Vacated, then reoccupied

The HCC also claimed that the structure was 22 years old and was frequented by more than 3,000 devotees from nearby housing estates.

However, Puncakdana said the 'temple' was in fact a shrine built in the house of the caretaker Mariai Gurusamy, to whom the developer had sold a flat in 1999.

"She was a squatter on the said land. In an agreement dated Oct 9, 1999, Mariai agreed to vacate her squatter house when she received notice from Puncakdana to do so. Vacant possession to the flat was given to her on Nov 14, 2002," it said in a statement today.

"Mariai demolished her squatter house except for the small shrine. She promised to move the shrine but breached her promise. Ample notices were given but she chose to ignore them."

The developer, who also spoke on behalf of registered landowner Motif Bakti Sdn Bhd, accused Mariai of allowing an illegal structure to be built over the shrine and later claiming to be the caretaker.

"She rented out her low-cost flat and moved back into the illegal shrine and made the back portion of the said illegal structure her abode. We would like to put on record that we have done everything in our power to resolve the above matter amicably, unfortunately to no avail. Regretfully, a forceful eviction of the above-mentioned illegal structure had to be affected."

Puncakdana conducted another demolition and eviction process on Aug 29 as the residents had rebuilt the structure following the first demolition exercise 10 days previously.

Meanwhile, the HCC submitted a memorandum to the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia this afternoon, alleging that the police and MPPJ were in cahoots with the developer to destroy the 'temple'.