DPM Muhyidin came and went. 2 million promised (and reported by all major newspapers). Building to be ready in time for 2011 intake (another 13 months left). And forget to mention that there’s no field, no place for expansion.

Last cabinet committee on Indian community saw news that funds allocated were not enough, and the MIC requested for extra RM85 million or so. So, what’s the fate of this school?

Uthayakumar’s Human Rights Party organised a protest at the site:

One of the PIBG committee members, V.Shanthi, said that the committee were kept is dark by the Education Ministry, DBKL and the Wilayah Minister on the supposed extension building to be build at present school site.

At the proposed new site:-

1) With One acre only it is insufficient for future expansion.[this is normal. No thought is even given for future use. Typical planning (in)capability]

2) The classrooms are much smaller then the standard size. [this is serious accusation!]

3) There is no space for school field.

4) There is a future plan to build a LRT station nearby. This will cause a massive traffic jam and it is unsafe for the children.

5) There is no proper planning by DBKL because it involves a Tamil School. But when come to Malay and Chinese schools they will take into consideration the future expansion. These are the injustices that we are against.

Meanwhile at the present site, there is around 26 acres of reserved land and it is in a safe place for children away from main roads. Why can’t the UMNO government give 6 acres out of the 26 acres land to this Bukit Jalil Tamil School? They will have enough places to build a school field, an assembly hall for children and for future expansion.

Going back to history, when Bukit Jalil was slated to build a mega Sports Complex there RM Billions was for Commonwealth Games in 1998. During that time the UMNO government spent Billions building the Stadium, sports complexes, apartments, schools and etc but when it comes to this 80 year old Tamil school UMNO did not bother to upgrade as they had done for the Malay schools.

The Indian settlement in Kg Pandan KL will also be developed and majority of the residents are to be shifted to Puchong. Another big load of students will be coming in. How is SJKT Bukit Jalil going to cope with the sudden increase? Or would the students be pushed into national type schools?

The school was embroiled in controversies since last 2 years – flooding, relocation to cemetery plot, etc. (Just search in this blog). The parents and PIBG have done alot, putting to shame those in power. Even hired own contractors to fix proper drainage!

Today, The Star reported that the school is in the dark and no communication from the relevant government agencies.

THE SJK (Tamil) Bukit Jalil Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), School Board and Residents Committee members are in the dark over a proposed new Tamil school.

School Board chairman K. Venkata Ramani said when Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhiyiddin Yassin visited the school in April, he gave an assurance of an allocation of RM2 million for the new school, which would have additional facilities.

“Tan Sri Muhiyiddin added that the proposed new school would be ready by 2011. There is now a signboard for a proposed SJK (Tamil) Bukit Jalil Tambahan about 1.1km from the existing school.

“We want the new school to have a field and more classrooms.

“We also want the existing school to remain here as it has been here for the last 80 years and has rich history,” said Venkata, who queried why the Education Ministry had not informed the PTA nor sought its suggestions on the project, although they had sent a letter to Muhiyiddin, the Education Ministry and Public Works Department last month. [because of inaction from the officers, the Minister is in a tight spot.]

“Our present committee wants to settle this before the next committee takes over,” he said.

SJK (Tamil) Bukit Jalil school board treasurer Gunasingam Veerasingam said that the school had 114 pupils and 15 small classrooms which could accommodate 10 to 15 pupils each. It has only a badminton court for the pupils to play sports and the grounds are hit by frequent flash floods.

SJK (Tamil) Bukit Jalil PTA chairman Balakrishnan Sadaian added that Deputy Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Datuk M. Saravanan had said 200 Indian families from the Kampung Pandan Indian settlement would be shifting to Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s People’s Housing Project (PPR) Kampung Muhibbah flats next to school soon.

“The existing school won’t be able to cope with the influx,” he said.

The SJK (Tamil) Bukit Jalil PTA, School Board and Residents Committee members want a detailed report on the proposed new school.

So, who is going to do the fire-fighting this time? The Deputy Minister for KL, Saravanan? Maybe ask the parents and schools to look at the “bigger picture!”  🙂

Its this kind of news that erodes the faith of the community on the government and its leaders. Promises not fulfilled. Or promise something that is stop-gap measure. No long-term solution. Regardless of which coalition, the problem still remains.

Anyway, I did suggest that in 10MP, a project is created to convert about 30 schools a year from partially-aided to fully-aided status. Within 5 years, at least 150 schools will be converted, which is nearly  half of the total number of partially-aided schools. Let’s see if any action is take this time, or more empty talks only.