RM500,000 allocation for revamp of JB’s Little India

Onn Hafiz (front row, second from right) visiting the Indian Heritage Centre at the Arulmigu Rajamariamman temple in Jalan Ungku Puan, Johor Baru.

JOHOR government has allocated RM500,000 to revamp the Little India area in downtown Johor Baru in a bid to help local traders and boost tourism.

Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi said Johor was among the states in Malaysia that had received the most number of visitors this year.

“This (Little India) is an important place for the Indian community in Johor and it is often frequented by visitors. As such, we have approved an allocation of RM500,000 to revamp the area.

“I have also received an allocation proposal for the Johor Baru Hindu Crematorium managed by the Arulmigu Rajamariamman temple.

“I will study the request further but for a start, the state government will allocate RM100,000 for the crematorium,” he said.

Onn Hafiz said Johor had achieved success in many areas, including attracting investors as well as sports and tourism events with the stability it attained since the state elections in March.

“In order for us to move further forward, it is important for all groups to work together and help each other.

“I have also been working closely with representatives from the Indian community including the assemblymen to ensure issues pertaining to the community including those involving schools and temples could be resolved,” he added.

Also present were state tourism, environment, heritage and culture committee chairman K. Raven Kumar, Kahang assemblyman R. Vidyananthan and Kemelah assemblyman N. Saraswati.

Meanwhile, Johor Baru Little India Cultural Association chairman Datuk N. Nilaraja said the RM500,000 allocation from the state government would be used for the construction of an arch.

“We are very grateful to the Mentri Besar for the generous contribution which will allow us to realise our plan to instal an arch in Little India.

“We hope the arch will make the area more vibrant and colourful, and attract a higher number of visitors which will benefit the local traders,” he told StarMetro. He added that it would cost about RM1mil to purchase the arch and have it installed in Little India.

“We plan to buy the arch, which is made of marble, from India. This has been the plan for many years and with the allocation, we hope to get things moving.

“Hopefully, the arch can be erected here by Deepavali next year,” he said.

Meanwhile, Arulmigu Rajamariamman temple president V. Raja Selan said the RM100,000 allocation would be of great help to the temple in managing the crematorium.

“We are happy as this is the first time we have received such assistance from the state government apart from an allocation for the construction of the crematorium.

“We need to fork out about RM200,000 yearly to maintain and manage the crematorium. As such, we have asked for a yearly grant of RM200,000 from the state government.

“We will continue pursuing the grant and we are very grateful for this initial assistance,” he said.

He added that the crematorium, which begun operations in 2008, provided cremation services to communities from Johor Baru, Pulai, Tebrau, Iskandar Puteri and Pasir Gudang.