Malaysia: Buddhist monks at the Dhamma Sakyamuni Caves Monastery have filed a petition to the state government of Perak to have the site recognised as a place of worship and the local Mount Kanthan area approved as a national heritage site. Mongabay has reported that the caves lie in YTL Cement’s Mount Kanthan quarry. The religious site is located on the still unquarried southern face of Mount Kanthan.
YTL Cement started eviction proceedings at the site in late 2020. It said, “Contrary to what has been claimed by irresponsible parties, we have co-existed harmoniously with the local community. The real issues at hand are safety and the sanctity of the law.” It added with regard to the safety issue, “As the rightful owner of the land, we are responsible for all that occurs on it. We cannot stand by the misleading of the public nor allow such negligence.”
A predecessor company of YTL Cement leased the site in the 1960s. However, the monks allege that they were using the area several decades prior to this. The relationship between both parties broke down in 2013 when the cement company started to ask the monks to leave the monastery during rock blasting.
