THE Kuantan City Council has rejected applications by organisers to hold water-themed music festivals at the Teluk Cempedak and Cherating beaches this weekend.

“The Licensing Committee rejected the applications after considering various factors, including sensitivities of the local community,” said council member Nik Mohd Ridzuan Kamarudin in a Facebook post yesterday.

“We are not rejecting entertainment, but we must uphold religious, moral and cultural values.”

He said youths should not be exposed to activities considered unsuitable.

However, Ridzuan said the council would review the event planned for Teluk Cempedak if the organisers fulfilled certain conditions.

Kuantan Mayor Zaliza Zulkipli told the New Straits Times that the Licensing Committee would hold a meeting to review the Teluk Cempedak event as it involved Tourism Malaysia.

On Wednesday, Beserah assemblyman Datuk Andansura Rabu urged the authorities not to allow both water-themed festivals, saying they violated the religious and cultural sensitivities of the community.

The events are the Kuantan Water Music Festival at Teluk Cempedak, scheduled for April 30-May 2, and the two-day Water Music Festival Cherating that was supposed to begin today.