HINDU residents in Sungai Petani, Kedah, are upset over the sorry state of the roads to be used for the Thaipusam procession, Makkal Osai reported.

       Sungai Petani MIC chief and Kuala Muda district NGO coordinator RS Thillai said the streetlights along Jalan Kuala Ketil, Jalan Sekerat, Jalan Market and Jalan Taman Bersatu have not been working for four months.

       The entire stretch is very dark at night, posing a hazard to devotees going to the Sri Subramaniar Devasthanam temple, he said, claiming that the local council has failed to repair the streetlights.

       The debris of six shops adjacent to the temple that had burned down and collapsed recently has not been cleared up by the Sungai Petani Municipal Council either.

       With 300,000 devotees expected to attend the procession and the celebration at the temple, the area is a total mess and there are serious concerns about safety.

       “MIC members and several NGOs have vowed to work together to clean up the area,” he said.

       ● The above article is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.

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