KUALA LUMPUR: The Vivekananda Ashram in Brickfields and the land it is situated on will be gazetted as a national heritage site soon.
Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said he had rejected an appeal by the board of trustees to quash a decision by the Heritage Commission to gazette the building.
“After all considerations, in my power as Minister, I have rejected the appeal. This means the building will be gazetted as a national heritage under Section 31 of the National Heritage Act 2005.
“As stated under Section 96 of the Act, my decision is final and there will be no more appeals, even to the courts,” he said in response to a question by M. Kulasagaran (DAP – Ipoh Barat) in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
On Oct 16 last year, StarMetro broke the story on development plans involving the ashram, generating a public outcry and forcing the Government to intervene and stop the trustees from forging ahead.
On July 15 this year, the Heritage Commissioner decided to gazette the building. A month later, the board of trustees’ appealed to Nazri through a formal letter.
Nazri also said there would be no financial allocations provided to the board of trustees because under the Act, maintenance was the responsibility of the landowners.
During a press conference later, he added that the Heritage Commissioner could also dictate the terms and conditions to the board of trustees under the Act.
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