Trustees: Expedite approval of permits for Chinese artisans

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THE management of the 211-year-old Goddess of Mercy Temple in Penang hopes to start restoration work on the temple in the beginning of next year.

Kong Hock Keong board of trustees chairman Datuk Lam Wu Chong said the restoration plan had been approved by the Penang Municipal Council but they could not start work as the Immigration Department had yet to grant the work permits for 35 craftsmen from China.

He said they applied for the work permits in May and received a letter two months later from Deputy Home Minister Datuk Lee Chee Leong who stated that the application was being processed.

“Hopefully the matter could be expedited,” Lam told a press conference at the temple on Jalan Mesjid Kapitan Keling yesterday.

He said there was now more urgency for the restoration to be carried out after the temple was partly damaged by falling roof tiles during a downpour early this week.

Lam said the incident could have been avoided if they had already started the restoration which had been planned since three years ago.

Repair in progress: Workers repairing the broken roof at Guan Yin (Goddess of Mercy) Temple on Jalan Mesjid Kapitan Keling.The rainstorm on Monday brought down part of the roof and damaged four statues.

“We had noticed earlier that the roof tiles and some other structures of the building have been attacked by termites,” he said, adding that the restoration was about rejuvenating the temple to be a more impressive historical icon.

He said the temple’s original external and interior designs would be maintained.

Lam added that restoration work would take about two-and-a-half years at a cost of RM6mil.

He said they were applying for funds from the state government and THINK City Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Khazanah Nasional Bhd.

It was earlier reported that four statues of deities in the temple were damaged by the falling roof tiles. Nobody was injured and the affected section was ordered closed temporarily for at least three months as a safety precaution.

Lam said repairs to the damaged portion would cost RM10,000 and was expected to be completed by this Sunday.

The temple sits within the George Town Unesco World Heritage Site and is a tourist attraction and an iconic landmark.