A coalition of undergraduates has threatened to protest in front of Barisan Nasioanl's Permatang assemblyperson Sulaiman Abdul Razak's residence over high hostel cost at Kolej Universiti Insaniah Selangor (Kuis).

NONE Spearheaded by Demi Mahasiswa Kuis (DMK), its president Azrul Tahir said this was because the hostel concession signed during BN's rule between Kuis and Redha Resource Sdn Bhd (RRSB), a company owned by Sulaiman ( right ), was lopsided and comes at the expense of students.

"Students are being pressed with the burden of high hostel cost yet no solution is in sight," he said in a statement today.

Explaining the drastic action, Azrul said this matter was pursued by Gerakan Mahasiswa Sedar since 2009 but has fallen on deaf ears.

Since then, he said DMK had collected 2,081 signatures in a drive against the high hostel cost and had submitted a memorandum to RRSB in September this year, he said.

"What we had requested in the memorandum, among them, was for the (hostel) contract to be cancelled and replaced with a fairer one that does not press Kuis undergraduates," he said, but this too was ignored.

Seeking immediate solution

As such, Azrul said a coalition of student groups will be turning up in front of Sulaiman's Shah Alam residence this Sunday in a protest dubbed "Kroni Kaya, Mahasiswa Menderita" (Cronies become rich, undergraduates suffer).

NONE "This demonstration is the students' effort and commitment for this issue to be resolved immediately," he said, adding that another memorandum of protest will be submitted to Sulaiman on that day.

In May, PKR director of strategy Rafizi Ramli (left) had claimed that Kuis was unable to reduce its fees because the institution was burdened by the costly and lopsided hostel concession .

According to him, RRSB was awarded the contract to construct the RM135 million 6,000-capacity hostel for Kuis students and was subsequently granted a 33-year concession to rent them out, worth RM508 million.

However, this was rubbished by Sulaiman as, although acknowledging that he and his wife were owners of the firm awarded the contract to build, operate and transfer the hostel facilities for Kuis students, he said profits were not as much as claimed by Rafizi.