The Hainanese community in Terengganu has been told that their place of worship which is situated in the area acquired for a beautification project will not be demolished.

PAS central committee member Anuar Tan Abdullah said the Terengganu government has given the assurance that the beautification project along Sungai Terengganu will not disturb the the 108-year old Thean Hou (Heavenly Goddess) temple.

Assurance conveyed

Anuar said he had been given the information by Wan Hassan Mohd Ramli, Terengganu's executive councillor for culture, arts and tourism.

Describing the issue as a "technical misunderstanding", Anuar - who is also Kelantan's Kota Lama state assembly representative - said he had conveyed the news to worshippers yesterday at the temple.

"There should be no problem now. They were happy to know that the temple will not be harmed.. I have told them that the government knows the importance of the house of worship to each religion and we are very sensitive to their religious rights," he said when contacted today.

The

Star quoted Terengganu MCA chairperson Lau Yin Pin as saying today that the PAS state government intended to acquire the site of the temple for the beautification project.

He said the acquisition was done without consulting the temple committee. He demanded an explanation from Terengganu Menteri Besar Abdul Hadi Awang ( photo) and urged the federal government to suspend any financial assistance for the RM10 million project.

Responding to Lau's statement, Anuar explained that the project is actually a federal government project under the Culture, Arts and Tourism Ministry.

"It's the federal government's decision to upgrade the riverbank in that area. The state acquired the land o­n behalf of the federal government," he said.

"Like I said, it is just a misunderstanding. The title of the land which belonged to the Terengganu Hainanese Association did not specify that there is a place of worship in that land. So when we acquired the land for the project, the state did not know of the existence of the temple there."

Preserving places of worship

He was told that the authorities had thought that the land merely housed an old wooden building which could be replaced together with compensation.

"It is PAS' policy to preserve all places of worship. Our policy is clear o­n that and we have never strayed from it," he stressed.

He also chided MCA for using the issue for political benefit instead of fighting for the community's interest.

"They should have found ways o­n how to settle the problem. (They should have) not politicised the matter," he said.

Agreeing with Anuar, Kuala Terengganu MP Syed Azman Syed Ahmad Nawawi said the matter had been settled and that the Chinese community had been given a proper explanation.

"It's a non-issue. MCA is just exploiting the issue by making unfounded accusations against the PAS government. We have always been sensitive to the needs of all, irrespective of their race and religion," he added.