Shoplot Tamil school gets land for own building

Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil Sungai Salak, which has been operating from a two-storey shoplot for the third year, has received a one-hectare plot of land from the government for a school building to be ready in 12 months.

It has also been upgraded to a fully government funded school, MIC vice-president Dr S Subramaniam, who is also Human Resources Minister, said at the site today.

"A major issue confronting the Indian community here is now resolved, more Indian parents will be able to send their children to the new school," said Subramaniam, who presented the land ownership letter to the school board's chairman S Barathen, after having received it earlier from an education ministry official.

The construction of the new school would be completed in 12 months, he added.

In his speech, Subramaniam said the MIC had raised the school's problem with Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Muhyiddin Yasin.

He said Muhyiddin approved the land and converted the school from a 'Bantuan Modal' school which receive some grants for physical development to 'Bantuan Penuh Kerajaan' (fully aided by the government).

Subramaniam said the handover of the land ownership was held at the site of the new school to underline the sincerity of the Barisan Nasional to help the Indian community.

More allocation sought

School headmaster M Krishnamurthy welcomed the good news and thanked Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak for "taking care of schools of different languages".

"I'll be happy when the building is completed, the new school is near the town but within walking distance of several housing estates," he said.

The school would be able to increase its enrolment from the existing 120 to between 400 and 500 then and greatly help parents who now spend as much as RM70 on bus fare for one child monthly to go to school in Port Dickson, he said.

The school had been inside the shoplot for the past two and a half years.

On the same note, Subramaniam said the government had also agreed to study a request by the MIC for more allocations to upgrade Tamil schools throughout the country.

Although the government had allocated RM100 million under its two economic stimulus packages for this purpose, he said an additional allocation of RM67 million was still needed to upgrade 200 Tamil schools.

Estate workers to get better deal

Meanwhile in another development, Subramaniam said Sime Darby Berhad has given him the assurance of continuing to provide tarred roads and better facilities in four estates in Bagan Pinang.

He said existing facilities in the four estates - the Salak (Atherton), Sua Betong, Siliau and Bradwall estates - would also be repaired.

"The company gave the assurance in a meeting with me on Monday. It had also agreed to provide a reasonable salary," he told reporters after visiting the Sua Betong Estate today.

He said the company would build a new community hall and another hall for the Maha Mariamman temple in the Salak Estate.

"Sime Darby will also solve flooding in a low-lying area in the Sua Betong Estate while the drains in the Hindu and Christian cemeteries there will be repaired.

He said the company would provide a photostat machine and a fax machine for a Tamil school in the Siliau Estate.

Subramaniam said Sime Darby had tarred a road along shophouses in the Bradwall Estate and a road leading to a temple in the Sua Betong Estate, and built community halls in all estates and a badminton court in the Sua Betong Estate.

Subramaniam said he had proposed to Sime Darby to set up the Estate Workers Housing Aid Fund to help workers own houses when they retire like that of Felda settlers.

On estate workers salary, he said in a survey conducted by the Labour Department showed that estate workers in Port Dickson earned between RM600 and RM1,200 monthly in the past four months.

- Bernama