(Penang, Wednesday): On Sunday, I had asked why there had been three different explanations in four days by three Barisan Nasional leaders about the failure to rebuild the Ladang Jawi Tamil primary school after it was razed two years ago.
At first, the Deputy Minister for Land and Co-operatives and MP for Nibong Tebal, Dr. Goh Cheng Teik, said on Nomination Day that the SRJK (T) Ladang Jawi school had not been rebuilt because the private land owner had refused to give his written consent.
Last Friday, Penang Chief Minister, Dr. Koh Tsu Koon said there was a pending court case between the owner of the land where the school stood before it was gutted, and a developer.
On Saturday, MIC President and Works Minister, Datuk Seri Samy Vellu said the government is looking for alternative land to rebuild the Ladang Jawi Tamil primary school.
I have been informed that all these three different explanations did not tell the whole truth as to why the Ladang Jawi Tamil primary school had not been rebuilt two years after it had been razed.
The problem was not over land, as I understand that the landowner where the school stood before had agreed to give an alternative one-and-a-half acre of land nearby for the site to rebuild Ladang Jawi Tamil primary school.
Why wasn't the offer of the landowner to give an alternative land for the rebuilding of the Ladang Jawi Tamil primary school taken up by the authorities?
I understand Cheng Teik was not keen on this land offer by the landowner. Can he explain why? Cheng Teik should explain whether he had hampered the rebuilding of the Ladang Jawi Tamil primary school in the past two years, and his real role with regard to the unresolved issue of land for the Ladang Jawi Tamil primary school, as well as his role in the late 1970s in connection with a land transaction involving the land owner and a developer with very close Gerakan connections.
The people of Sungai Bakap, in particular the Indian community, are entitled to know the full story of why the Ladang Jawi Tamil primary school had not been rebuilt after it had been razed two years ago, despite the offer of an alternative land to site the new school by the landowner, and Cheng Teik's role in the entire matter, even going back to the past 18 to 19 years.
(5/11/97)