A promise broken thrice

Merlimau Indians have been waiting for a Tamil school since the 1999 general election, says DAP.

MERLIMAU: The Indians of Merlimau have been hearing the same Barisan Nasional (BN) promise to build a Tamil school through three general elections, but nothing has materialised.

They are hearing the same promise again in the campaign for the March 6 by-election.

“Enough is enough,” said N Ghandirajan, Malacca DAP’s vice-chairman.

He told FMT he was not impressed by the ground-breaking ceremony that Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin conducted two weeks ago, saying it was 12 years too late.

He spoke in the presence of several companions who claimed to be representatives of the local Indians.

He said BN first made the promise in 1999, and again in 2004 and 2008, each time changing the proposed location of the school.

“Now, for the by-election, they are promising it again. The only difference is the ground-breaking ceremony was Feb 14.”

This time the proposed site is a football field belonging to Sime Darby.

The Merlimau Tamil School currently operates from a temporary building belonging to a secondary school.

Ghandirajan noted a discrepancy in recent announcements about the cost of the proposed school. Muhyiddin said on Feb 14 that it would be RM4 million, but a week earlier, Malacca executive councillor R Perumal said it would be RM6.1 million.

“I urge Perumal to explain the difference,” he said. “Did he give the statement only to please the Indians or is the plan real?”

He challenged Perumal and MIC vice-president S Subramaniam to ensure that the construction of the school begin within 100 days of the ground-breaking ceremony, which both of them attended.

“If they fail to do so, this will be another classic example on how the MIC and BN leaders simply take Indians for a ride and are never serious in helping them to gain proper and quality education,” he said.

“I urge the Merlimau voters – not only the Indians, but other races as well – to learn from the empty promises of BN.

“During the Bagan Pinang by-election in October 2009, they promised to build a new Tamil school, but till today nothing has happened there.”