MIC President Dr S Subramaniam said today the government was thoughtful of the needs of the Indians in the country and hence this special allocation by the prime minister and the Finance Ministry.

Subramaniam, who is also health minister, said several plots of land had been identified nationwide and were in the midst of being vetted.

“In some areas, we have problems with the land and we are trying to resolve these issues. I think there are four to five projects with such problems.

“Some are land ownership issues and land owned by the state governments.

“If the land issues are resolved, then the process of building these halls and crematoriums will be carried out without much of a hassle,” he told reporters here today.

Subramaniam added that the cost of building crematoriums ranged between RM1.1 million and RM1.3 million.

Community halls would cost RM700,000 to RM1.2 million.

Earlier, Subramaniam prayed at the Arumigu Karu Mariamman Temple in Jalan Todak, Prai, along with temple committee members.

He also visited a long-delayed multipurpose hall under construction.

He handed over a RM300,000 donation from the Federal Government towards the RM4.6 million project, which has been stalled due to a lack of funds.

Temple Trustee and President V R Subramaniam said RM2.3 million of the donations from devotees had already been spent to build the four-storey complex.

It is about 50% complete although it began construction in September 2012. The project was stalled after the failure to pay arrears amounting to RM260,000 to the main contractors.

“We need more donations from the public to complete this project.

“When complete, it would have a hall to accommodate 700 people, an activity room, dorms and a badminton hall.”