The Kek Lok Si Temple has agreed to allow the late Lim Chin Aik’s urn to be placed on its premises in Air Itam.
Chin Aik’s wife Lee Chai Song had filled the urn with mud scooped from the wrecked car parts found at the crater in Jalan Macalister.
Lim is believed dead and his body buried at least 40m or 13 storeys underground after his car was hit by a lightning arrestor that snapped and fell off the 21-storey Menara Umno during a freak storm on June 13.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the state had appointed lawyers Karpal Singh and Gobind Singh Deo to represent the family to look into the legal matters.
“I’ve spoken to Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and he promised to make a request to the Attorney-General to hold an inquest,” he told a press conference at Komtar yesterday.
He said National Registration Department (NRD) director Datuk Jariah Mohd Said had in a letter explained that under Section 18 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1957 (Act 299), the department could not issue a death certificate yet.
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The letter stated that under the Act, the NRD could only issue the certificate if the body was found, or confirmation of death was made by medical personnel, or upon submission of a death registration form, or the NRD burial permit.
However, the letter also said the family could apply for a “presumption of death” order from the High Court to replace the death certificate.
Guan Eng said before the family could apply for the order, it was important for the inquest to be carried out first.
Meanwhile, state Local Government, Traffic Management and Flood Mitigation Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow admitted that the Penang Municipal Council as well as the search and rescue unit were not efficient enough during the operation.
“There is a lack of crisis and disaster management skills in our team. We will try to rectify this and improve,” he said during a book launch at Che Em Lane here.
