THE Ipoh City Council did not promise a plot of land in Ampang for the relocation of SJK(T) Gunung Rapat as claimed by the Opposition, said Datuk S. Veerasingam.
He said Datuk Bandar Datuk Roshidi Hashim had merely told the school authorities that he would put a word of support for their application for the land to the state executive council.
Veerasingam, who is Perak Mentri Besar’s special adviser, revealed that the Ampang land was one of three plots listed by the school in a memorandum to the Mentri Besar in May last year.
“Nothing has been finalised yet. The state government knows that the school desperately needs land, but we need to evaluate all the options and decide on the best location for the school,” he said in a press conference to respond to allegations by state DAP deputy chief V. Sivakumar.
Sivakumar had said that Roshidi had tricked the Indian community by giving away the land initially promised to the school last year to the Perak Football Association (PAFA).
According to a Malay daily on Feb 12, PAFA president Datuk Zainol Fadzi Paharudin confirmed that the association had applied for the land but had not received any reply from the authorities yet.
Veerasingam also slammed the Opposition for failing to help the school during its 11-month stint as the state government.
“They are turning this into a political matter when all Barisan Nasional wants to do is to help the teachers and students who are suffering in a cramped condition,” he said.
During his press conference last Saturday Sivakumar had showed media representatives a copy of a letter from Roshidi to Veerasingam stating that the 0.97ha land was given to PAFA.
“Last October during his visit to the school, the Datuk Bandar had promised that the land owned by MBI would be allocated to the school.
“Even the Deputy Prime Minister promised to give the school RM2.5mil for its development project during his Deepavali visit to Perak,” Sivakumar had said.
He did not accept MBI’s claims that it learnt the land was given to PAFA only after the school visit on Oct 19.
Sivakumar had also said that the school had applied for a land three times and that there was no other suitable land in the area for it to move to.
State Opposition chief Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin who was present at the same press conference said: “There are 300 students and teachers suffering due to lack of infrastructure at their current location, yet the Datuk Bandar has betrayed the Indian community by going back on his promise.”
On Sunday, Sivakumar accompanied Persatuan Dravidian Malaysia representatives to lodge a police report against the Datuk Bandar over the land issue.
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