BY ONG HAN SEAN

Beautiful and majestic: The Sri Marathandavar Aalayam temple in Maran is visited by Hindus from all over Malaysia.

KUANTAN: A special officer to the Pahang Mentri Besar has assured the Hindu community that a prominent temple in Maran will not be demolished as suggested in reports that went viral.

Senator Datuk R. Goonasakaren dispelled talk that the Sri Marathandavar Aalayam temple would be closed down or demolished.

“I have checked with the district officer and would like to assure the public that the temple is operating as usual,” he said.

The rumours swirled when the Registrar of Societies (RoS) ordered the temple committee be deregistered effective Dec 29, 2016 after it failed to show sufficient reasons why such action should not be taken against it as required in an RoS notice issued in July last year.

“I went through their documents and it appears that there were some technical problems in their accounts submitted earlier. Maybe the RoS is not satisfied with their explanation and this has caused the committee to be deregistered.

“The committee will hold an emergency meeting and I will give my full support in resolving this matter,” he said.

According to the RoS notice dated July 26, 2016, the organisation had breached its rules by still using a trustee although a property administrator had been approved by the RoS on Feb 28, 2012.

The offence was discovered through the annual general meeting (AGM) reports of 2014 and 2015.

“There was no transaction that shows RM18,064 cash in hand, through the annual financial statement ending Dec 31, 2014, was deposited into any accounts of the organisation in January 2015.

“Holdings above RM1,000 as cash in hand is against clause 17(h) of the organisation’s registered constitution,” the RoS said in the notice.

It added that there was no clear transaction that showed donation collection amounting to RM302,356 was deposited to any fixed deposit of the consolidated accounts.

The organisation was also found to have withdrawn RM683,616 from the building consolidated account without approval at its AGM or extraordinary general meeting.

“The organisation is found to have also withdrawn RM36,142 from the consolidated general funds account’s fixed deposit without approval at an annual general meeting or extraordinary general meeting.

“The organisation, through its annual financial statement ending Dec 31, 2014, has failed to show clear and orderly upkeep of its consolidated accounts,” said the RoS.

The temple committee was deregistered by the RoS in 2014 over similar complaints but the matter was resolved after an appeal.

When contacted yesterday, former assistant treasurer of the committee M. Revindran assured temple devotees that it would still operate as usual for the time being.

“Prayers are still going on as usual, staff is running the temple. We have 30 days to appeal against the deregistration and after that, it will depend on the RoS decision,” he said.