SUBANG JAYA (Dec 2): Tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun who initiated a fund-raising campaign to buy the land where the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in USJ 25 here is located, is confident the landowner will fully cooperate with his efforts.

He said he personally knew the chief executive officer of Ayala Corp, the company that owns the land, who he described as a generous and respected person.

“Ayala Corp is the largest and oldest company in the Philippines, the owner is a kind, respected person who loves doing charity work.

“Ayala Corp may give us big discounts, I believe the company will do something good for their business in Malaysia,” he told a news conference after visiting the temple.

Also present was PKR vice-president and Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar.

Ayala Corp has a 66.25% stake in local property company MCT Bhd, which was acquired earlier this year by the multinational conglomerate.

The temple land is owned by One City Development Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of MCT.

According to Tan, until today the donation campaign to buy the temple site has managed to raise RM2 million.

Meanwhile, Dr Xavier at the same press conference asked all those who signed the consent judgment to return to the negotiating table so that a solution could be sought.

The temple’s relocation triggered riots in the area of the house of worship in the early hours of Monday and Tuesday, which saw a firefighter seriously injured besides 23 vehicles being set on fire and the glass of panels  on the ground floor of the One City building complex, a kilometre away from the temple, being damaged.

To date 58 individuals have been arrested in connection with the incidents.