Batu Caves Escalator Project Receives Go-Ahead Amid Technical Checks

DAP chairman Gobind Singh Deo said the agreement was reached following a meeting at the temple this afternoon at which it was agreed all necessary regulations must be carefully followed. Gobind said the temple had a unique status, being governed by an old court order that established a trust body, resulting in an application process different from standard procedures. During the meeting, temple committee chairman R Nadarajah said that as trustee he had made the application for a temporary occupation licence for the land on which the escalator is to be built. Gobind said there had been an allegation that the application was submitted in Nadarajah’s name as an individual, and that it ought to have been made under the name of an association properly registered with the Registrar of Societies instead. “It was for these reasons that the state has not, to date, approved the application. Nadarajah clarified that the application was made by the temple through him as chairman of the temple trustees and not in his individual capacity,” he said in a post on X today. Gobind said he discussed the matter with Selangor executive councillor V Papparaidu, and both the state government and temple “have agreed to press ahead with all regulatory requirements to facilitate the application as soon as possible”. Papparaidu had earlier stated that Nadarajah’s application, which was not carried out by a registered association, was in breach of regulations under the National Land Code. On a separate matter regarding the relocation of the Dewi Sri Pathrakaliamman temple in Masjid India, Kuala Lumpur, Gobind said Kuala Lumpur City Hall had called a meeting with the management tomorrow to discuss the temple’s relocation. “I will facilitate matters and see how we can help the temple,” Bernama reported him as saying.