The center, which recently became a target of anti-Islamic vandalism in Australia'€™s third most-populous city, will no longer be able to hold any religious activity following a recent city council review suggesting that such a designated religious center should not be located within a residential zone, Indonesian Muslim Center of Queensland (IMCQ) president Hamid Mawardi said on Thursday in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post.

Hamid, however, said the Muslim community had accepted the decision and would temporarily move its activities to a hall recommended by the council in another suburb while they were looking for a new site to establish a new center.

'€œWe will also request President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo to help us in facilitating the development of the center,'€ he said, referring to Indonesia's new leader who will be staying in Brisbane over the weekend to attend the G20 meeting.

Jokowi, the country's seventh president, will arrive on Friday afternoon in Brisbane and is scheduled to meet members of Indonesian communities in the city later in the day at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) campus.

The prayer center, located in the Brisbane suburb of Rocklea, received local media coverage after a man painted abusive messages and Christian crosses on its wall on Sept. 23. A week before that, a mosque in the Queensland town of Mareeba had also become a target of similar vandalism.

Once fully operational, the center, which has been used to house daily prayers only, is expected to facilitate the activities of hundreds of Indonesians in Brisbane. (nfo)(+++)

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