PARLIAMENT Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz today said he will go ahead and apply to gazette the Vivekananda Ashram as a national heritage site.

Nazri told the Dewan Rakyat that the landowners and the Federal Territories Ministry had been served with a notice of intent by the ministry on Nov 12.

"If there are no objections, we expect to gazette it by March next year. If there are objections, we will follow due process and maybe it will take up until October," he said.

Nazri had been vocal in not wanting the land in Brickfields, on which the 110-year-old ashram sits, from being redeveloped.

His decision was welcomed by Pakatan Rakyat MPs, who applauded his promptness in resolving the issue.

 
Nazri ( left ) said that a 21-day objection period will be accorded in February for the gazettement.
 
So far, the board of trustees for the ashram land had refused for the land to be gazetted as a national heritage site, and Nazri had previously said that the ministry cannot unilaterally gazette the land as it is private land.
 
But Nazri's announcement today is an indication that the ministry will plough ahead with its attempts to gazette the site and prevent the redevelopment, which means the trustees will need to bring up objections to the Kuala Lumpur City Hall or through legal avenues.
 
Nazri had previously reported as saying that he is prepared for a legal battle if need be.
 
"We are just following due process and following what is accorded to us under the Heritage Act," he said.
 
Nazri confirmed that his ministry is using Section 67 of the National Heritage Act, which allows the heritage department to still go ahead and gazette a heritage site.