The Selangor state government supports preservation of the ​Sungai Buloh settlement for leprosy ​patients and will send a letter to urge the Health Ministry not to demolish the Hope Valley settlement buildings.

Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah said the state supports demands by the 'Save Valley of Hope Solidarity Group', but the ultimate decision is in the federal government's hands.

“The state government is not the landowner, thus we have limited power,” he told Malaysiakini.

“We support the five demands of the petition, including to fully preserve the settlement, nominate the settlement as national and world heritage site, establish Sungai Buloh Historical Park and so on.”

Representatives from the Health Ministry, the National Heritage Department, Hospital Sungai Buloh and others will have a meeting tomorrow on whether the Hope Valley settlement will be demolished.

An outcry was sparked in February when Sungai Buloh Hospital (HSB) director Khalid Ibrahim reportedly announced plans to build, in June, a National Centre for Infectious Disease Control at the site of Hope Valley settlement.

As at writing, the petition launched May 16 has garnered 1,952 signatories.

The demands of the petition are to fully preserved the settlement, nominate it as national and world national site, establish Sungai Buloh Historical Park, protect horticulture activities and protect livelihood of the community and to grant settlers rights to preserve their legacies.

This petition will be delivered to the Health Ministry, Tourism and Culture Ministry, the National Heritage Department and Selangor government.