Kwong Fook Ngan Buddhist Chinese Temple in Sungai Raya is among the 13 places of worship due to be assessed. — Photos: RONNIE CHIN/ The Star
PERAK is the first state in the country to come up with guidelines for places of worship located in limestone caves.
Gopeng MP Tan Kar Hing, who is a member of a technical committee set up by the state government, said prior to this, there were no regulations on development at limestone caves.
There are currently no standard operating procedures (SOP) on how to manage cave temples either, not only in Perak but nationwide as well, he said.
“We have procedures to grant titles for hillslopes but not for places of worship inside caves,” he said in an exclusive interview with StarMetro at his service centre in Bandar Seri Botani.
The Ju Bao Yan Thai Buddhist Temple is the first to go through the assessment process so it can be gazetted as a place of worship. — Photo courtesy of Geofinite Engineering
Simpang Pulai assemblyman Wong Chai Yi and Teja assemblyman Sandrea Ng Shy Ching are also members of the Perak Cave and Limestone Area Development Special Committee which was set up in October last year.
The other members of the committee include representatives from government agencies such as Lands and Mines Office, Public Works Department, Minerals and Geoscience Department and Ipoh City Council (MBI).
Tan said the committee was set up in relation to 13 temples housed in limestone caves within Kinta Valley that were issued eviction notices by Perak Lands and Mines Office in 2022 due to safety concerns.
All the 13 Buddhist, Hindu and Taoist temples are currently located on government-owned land and have no land titles, he said.
“The committee had to start from scratch, from formulating the plans, rockfall simulation and so forth.
“Among the 13 temples, a pilot project was carried out at Ju Bao Yan Thai Buddhist Temple in Simpang Pulai. This is the stepping stone to move forward in terms of safety in such temples.
“Their suitability for gazettement (as houses of worship) can also be determined through this,” Tan added.
Four conditions must be met
Tan said under the guidelines, temple committees were required to fulfil four conditions in order for the site to be gazetted as a place of worship.
The four requirements are: having plans prepared by a surveyor; safety report; trained in-house safety officers; and insurance policies.
Previously, in order to apply for land titles, Tan said these temple operators had to comply with a lot of safety regulations that would have cost a lot of money.
Understandably, none did it until the 13 temples received eviction notices.
“When the eviction notices were issued, the temples were classified as illegal structures under Section 425 of the National Land Code.
“So, the agreement is that if the operators want to be legalised, they have to comply with the regulations,” he added.
Tan: The committee did not have anything to refer to and had to start from scratch.
Tan said since they had nothing to refer to, the committee organised a forum last year, during which experts in the field were invited.
“‘We had academics from universities and technical agencies as well as consultants to discuss mitigation plans, costing, risk management and so forth.
“After the forum, we decided to engage a consultant, which we found to be the most practical and expedient way to go about it.
“Prior to this, we didn’t even know what kind of application forms were required from the Lands and Mines office,” he added.
Tan said they faced difficulties obtaining the equipment needed to do assessments on the ground.
“We needed to use a drone, 360-degree camera and special equipment to check the limestone structure and risks from hanging rocks,” he added.
Some of the equipment was not available in the country and had to be sourced from overseas.
The committee, he said was fortunate as the consultant did the work pro bono and the consultancy company bore the expenses for all the equipment purchased.
“This project is the first of its kind in Malaysia and the firm wished to explore it further for possible use in the future,” he said.
The Sri Siva Subramaniam Temple in Kampung Kepayang is another cave temple aiming for gazettement as a house of worship.
Model for rest of Malaysia
Tan said all kinds of operators could apply for land titles even if it involved agriculture land situated on hillslopes with hanging rocks.
“So this new guidelines actually apply across all sectors, meaning it does not matter if the land is used for agriculture, eco- tourism or places of worship.
“It is similar in the sense we need to do risk management, for example, assessing the danger from hanging rocks and so forth,” he added.
Wong, who was also present at the interview, added that the committee had on July 20 conducted a safety officers’ course for representatives from the temples.
She said the respective temple committees were required to comply with all four requirements.
“‘The Ju Bao Yan Thai Buddhist Temple has been assessed on all the requirements.
“The next two temples to be checked are Tung Wah Tong Buddhist Meditation Centre and Chinaraj Ipoh Buddhist Temple.”
The other 10 temples are Kwong Fook Ngan Buddhist Chinese Temple, Sri Siva Subramaniam Temple, Erawan Shrine Kinta, Jubaoyan Buddhist Temple, Simpang Pulai Meditation Centre, Tao Long Gong Tai Shang Lao Jun Temple, Dewi Loong Tau San Ipoh, Fo Mu Dong Buddhist Temple, Ipoh Guan Yin Dan Ba Xian Buddhist Temple, Huat Tian Keong Temple and Sukhavana Kinta Meditation Centre.
All the 13 temples are located within the Kinta Valley, namely in Bercham, Tambun, Hulu Kinta, Simpang Pulai and Gunung Rapat.
“Perak has the largest limestone deposits in Peninsular Malaysia, with the majority in Kinta Valley,” Wong said.
She added that all 13 temple committees had agreed to all the conditions because they needed to comply with them to receive land titles.
“We are the first in the country to have an SOP set out by the state government.”
(From second left) Tan, Wong and Ng visiting the Dewi Loong Tau San Buddhist Temple. — Courtesy photo
Technicalities of safety
Wong said the committee took a year as they needed to consult experts and go through all the necessary processes.
“We had to cross check with the Lands and Mines Office and so far, we have finished with the Ju Bao Yan Thai Buddhist temple.
“The temple committees are also required to purchase insurance.
“The insurance companies are required to assess each and every cave.
“This is because each cave has its own speciality, security and safety levels,” she added.
Wong said the consultancy firm had equipment to carry out 3D mapping, with mitigation plans for each temple.
Wong: Temple committees must comply with all conditions to receive land titles.
“The first (Ju Bao Yan Thai Buddhist temple) is not situated exactly inside a cave, but close to it.
“We were more concerned about the hanging rocks.
“Two solutions were given – chemical blasting of the rocks to minimise risk or installing barricades to create a buffer zone.
“Once the report is out, the next course of action will be discussed,” she added.
Wong said a guidebook would be published upon completion of the pilot project.
“We don’t need to wait for the assessment of SOPs for all 13 temples.
“After the guidelines for about three temples are assessed for compliance, we can publish the book.”
Once the guidebook is out, other cave temples situated on government land could refer to it, she added.
The managing director of the consultancy involved, Kho Kai Fei from Geofinite Engineering, said it was dedicated to supporting and endorsing sustainable slope design.
Kho: Terrestrial mapping on the interior and exterior of limestone caves and hills is required.
He said the gazetting of temples required assessment of the stability of limestone caves and hills where they were located.
“Our company has been involved in rock fall mitigation for 10 years.
“However, rock fall mitigation inside cave chambers is a complex and challenging task.
“We need to use sophisticated technology to check on structural stability and determine what sort of mitigation is required.”
Kho said each temple was different, and to assess the condition of the limestone mass, terrestrial mapping on the interior and exterior was required.
Therefore, he said a 3D model of the area was needed for geotechnical assessment of the stability of limestone caves and hills.
“Areas of low stability can be identified from the assessment, and further stabilisation works proposed,” he added.
