The Church of Divine Mercy (CDM) in Shah Alam has hit out at a Selangor state official for releasing information on the 28-year ordeal to build the church which it claimed was inaccurate.

Last week, State Executive Councillor K. Sivalingam told a local daily The Sun that the 28-year delay was due to several changes to building plans and relocations; that if the church applied for a suitable place the process would have been faster; that there is no limit to the hectarage allocated for the building of non-Muslim places of worship; and that the state never rejects any application, almost all are approved provided it is in the right location and has an acceptable design.

The CDM rebutted all four points raised through its solicitors Fernandez and Selvarajah in a letter published by The Sun today.

"The unusually long delay was solely due to the actions of the state authority in constantly relocating the building sites and revoking already approved building plans and designs," they said.

The building plans, they claimed, were approved in 1993 for the first site, and in 2000 for the third site.

Months later, the city council revoked both approvals without reason in both cases. The building plans for the second site was rejected outright in 1999.

The church also stated that it was strange that the authorities offered all the building sites, only to reject them later, and offer new sites.

Limits and restrictions

The letter also said that on Oct 5, 1993 the then mentri besar Muhammad Muhd Taib ordered that the church should not exceed 30ft in height and should not occupy more than 50 percent of the land.

"In all the building sites offered, contrary to the statement of Sivalingam, there were limits and restrictions on the land area, height and built-up area," said the CDM.

The late Kuala Lumpur Archbishop Dominic Vendargon first applied to the Selangor government for a suitable land to build a church in Shah Alam in 1977. Seven years later in 1984, a piece of land was approved and the archbishop bought the land.

Four sites later and with legal proceedings filed in 2001 by the then Kuala Lumpur Archbishop Soter Fernandez against the Selangor government, it finally relented and gazetted a piece of private land for the church's use.

The church is presently located within the Glenmarie Industrial Park, Section U1/15 - the fifth site approved for the purpose.

The 2600-capacity CDM was officially opened and blessed by current Kuala Lumpur Archbishop Murphy Pakiam (photo) on Sept 10.

The event was attended by more than 10,000 people, including many visitors from overseas, who came to share the joy of local parishioners that after so many years, they finally managed to build their own house of God.