T

he Tanjungbalai municipal administration on Monday asked the Tri Ratna Temple Foundation board to immediately take down the Buddha statue that stands 6 meters tall on top of the temple.

Tanjungbalai Mayor M. Syahrial said the request was a follow-up to a meeting between the local consultative forum and religious and community leaders last week regarding the presence of the Buddha statue on top of the Tri Ratna Temple. Syahrial claimed that the people at the meeting agreed that the temple board be given the authority to remove the statue.

“The agreement has been approved by all parties, including the Tri Ratna Temple Foundation. We leave it entirely to the foundation to take down the statue, at the latest three months from now,” Syahrial told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

He claimed the presence of the statue had long been objected to by most of Tanjungbalai’s Muslim residents. Syahrial added that the administration had formally issued a decree to take down the statue in 2010, but the effort failed because one of the Tri Ratna Foundation board members who signed the agreement passed away.

“Today, we again urge the Buddha statue be taken down immediately because this was already agreed six years ago,” said Syahrial. He said he expected no more disturbance would take place in the city once the statue was gone.

Tanjungbalai community leader Nurzal Fadly, who is also member of the House of Representatives, said the decision to remove the Buddha statue was right and that he believed all the components of society in Tanjungbalai would realize that togetherness would last with mutual respect. “I hope this moment will be the starting point to build solidarity among the people of Tanjungbalai,” said Fadly.