The Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS) says it never blocked the access road to the 60-year old Sri Maha Kaliamman Alayam Temple in Batu Caves.

PKNS public relations manager Ishak Hasim said the allegation made by Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leader P Uthayakumar and the temple council representatives are false.

PKNS has actually done its job of building an alternative access road to the temple site for the followers, Ishak said.

Although PKNS did build hoardings surrounding the land, he added, the temple itself is situated on a Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) pilot project land that is adjacent to the PKNS affordable housing project.

"The temple was constructed on the TNB pilot site, rather than on land owned by PKNS. The PKNS site covers 8.6 acres, where 418 PKNS Selangorku Idaman housing units and 42 business lots are to be built,” Ishak said in a statement.

He said hoardings have been put up at the site, and that this is a common standard for the construction of a project to prevent people from entering a project site, as it could endanger them, he said.

Ishak also said that another alternative route was suggested by the Batu Caves assemblyperson, Amiruddin Shari, but this has yet to be finalised.

Uthayakumar ( photo ), who is acting as the lawyer for the temple committee deputy chairperson Ramesh Kannan, accused PKNS of blocking the access road to the 60-year old temple, and forcing it to be relocated under a dangerous high-tension electrical grid area.

"A police report was lodged in Selayang, but as usual, the police did not intervene to stop this crime as the victims are merely poor Indians.

This is in clear violation of Section 295 (defiling a place of worship), Section 296 (disturbing a religious assembly), Section 298(A) (causing racial disharmony) and Section 441 (criminal trespass) under the Penal Code.

"Our clients maintain that there is no such thing as an illegal Hindu temple in Malaysia as there are rightly no illegal surau or mosques, by virtue of Article 11 of the Federal Constitution (guaranteeing freedom of religion)," Uthayakumar said.

However, Ishak did not refer to the police report in his statement, but said that PKNS assets were destroyed by "irresponsible groups" in the area.

"PKNS regrets the actions of several irresponsible groups that had destroyed the corporation's assets, causing RM25,000 in losses," he said.