‘Gazette land for Tamil school’
By B. Nantha Kumar, Free Malaysia Today
“Merlimau Tamil school is very lucky because of the by-election. If not for the by-election, the school will have to wait another 40 years for the new building.
MERLIMAU: A new building for a Tamil school will be coming up here thanks to the upcoming Merlimau by-election.
Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has already officiated at a ground-breaking ceremony for the school which has been squatting on someone else’s land for more than 20 years.
But an amused PKR leader from the Alor Gajah division, G Rajandran, said the school, which was over 40 years old, had never seen a deputy prime minister visit the area.
“If not for the by-election, we won’t get such a powerful visitor. This is the first time in the school’s history that a deputy prime minister has visited them…. I hope he doesn’t make empty promises,” said Rajandran.
He said the Tamil school, with 175 students, had been squatting on a small piece of leased land within the compound of another secondary school for more than two decades.
According to Rajendran, in 2004, the state government had approved a five-acre plot for the construction of the new school.
But nothing had happened since the announcement.
Speaking to FMT today, Rajendran said: “A groundbreaking ceremony does not mean that the school will be constructed…
“We do not want empty promises from the ruling party. If the BN government is genuinely concerned, then it should give the school its land title and gazette the land immediately under the school.”
Very lucky
Rajendran was referreing to Muhyiddin’s visit to Merlimau to officiate at the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the school.
During the ceremony, Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister, had said the government will continue to strive and improve the quality of education for all races.
