Wednesday March 26, 2008
Quit-rent exemption for places of worship
By WANI MUTHIAH and EDWARD RAJENDRA
SHAH ALAM: There will be no more quit rent and assessment rates for all registered places of worship in Selangor, and a token annual fee of only RM1 will be introduced instead, said Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.
“Our executive councillors have come to a decision to introduce a nominal annual fee of RM1 for places of worship. Once this is implemented, it would lift the burden of paying quit rent and assessment rates, thus allowing them to channel funds into their own activities,” he said Wednesday after the state exco meeting.
Khalid added that the RM1 token fee would also apply for vernacular and national-type schools throughout the state.
Former Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo had also waived close to RM500, 000 in quit rent arrears, owed by vernacular schools, three months ago.
Dr Khir had said the move was to ensure schools would not be bogged down by fund-raising activities and could concentrate instead on educating the children.
Klang Valley Taoism Association chairman Yeoh Choo Beng, 59, said the RM1 nominal fee for places of worship showed that the new government had a caring approach.
“This is good as Chinese temples operate on contributions from devotees. We also hope the government will help the Chinese temples, and even our Buddhist brothers, with special allocations for our activities,” he said.
Former Sree Selvavinayagar Temple chairman N.P. Raman said the move to do away with the quit rent and assessment rates for places of worship was a good move as the money could be channelled into temple activities.
“We are thankful to the new government’s initiatives. Hindus throughout the state are appreciative, and want the state to gazette Hindu temples and recognise some that are 100-year-old as heritage buildings,” he said.
Raman said Selangor had some beautiful mosques, and Chinese and Hindu temples that were rich in culture, and should be promoted to tourists.
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