IPOH: After a two year hiatus, work to build a state-funded non-Muslim crematorium at the Hindu burial ground in Buntong has been revived.
In a meeting chaired by state non-Muslim Affairs Committee chairman Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon recently, it was agreed that the project would be revived after it was dropped, following objections from residents and the Hindu Paripalana Sabah Association.
Dr Mah said a total of RM1.3 million had been allocated for the project.
“When the project abruptly stopped in 2012, 60 per cent of the funds had been used to buy furnaces,” he said, adding that the equipment to be used in the crematorium were built with German technology.
He added that the project would also be on the Buntong cemetery plot.
“The project is now expected to be completed in May or June next year,” he added.
On residents’s concerns that the crematorium would be too near residential areas, Dr Mah said the Environment Department had imposed additional requirements on the operator.
It was reported that Dr Mah had first mooted the non-Muslim crematorium project to be constructed in the Buntong Hindu burial ground.
According to a proposal letter by the state government, 0.2ha of the Buntong Hindu burial ground would be converted to build a modern crematorium for non-Muslims.
The building will be equipped with new facilities. By Sylvia Looi