PENANG Deputy Chief Minister II Prof Dr P Ramasamy has slammed former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for refuting DAP and Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) claims that the soon-to-be-shuttered Assumption primary school in Butterworth has existed for 89 years.
Calling the Pekan MP “extremely petty” for raising doubts about the longevity of the school, Ramasamy noted that even if the school was moved to the present site in 2008, this does not mean that the school did not exist before.
He was responding to Najib’s earlier remark that the SK Assumption building was only built in 2008 after the original building at another location was destroyed in a fire in 1995.
“Najib had asked the federal government to be transparent about why the school had to be closed as he felt that if this was not done, PH politicians might go to town with the closure for political points,” Ramasamy commented.
“But Najib forgot that it was the Barisan Nasional (BN) government during his tenure that had prevented the school from getting a piece of land in the first place.”
According to Ramasamy, it was no exaggeration on PH politicians’ part to say that SK Assumption was built by Christian missionaries and was managed by the La Salle Brothers before the land was sold to a private developer in the 1990s.
Before the school could be relocated to the present place, students were temporarily placed in a school in Sungei Nyior.
Free Malaysia Today reported that the school was relocated in 2008 to a new site with private developer Sri Avenue Sdn Bhd reportedly having an understanding that the Education Ministry would purchase the land and the three-storey buildings.
However, the Education Ministry reneged on the promise and the company had reportedly asked for the return of the land.
“If there is no problem acquiring land for national schools, why did the Education Ministry drag its feet in acquiring land for SK Assumption?” Ramasamy questioned.
Ramasamy went on to slam the Education department for not taking the matter seriously, resulting in it being neglected for a long period of time.
“Since the Education Ministry was sluggish to act on the land, it was decided that the school would be closed down with students moved to other schools nearby,” he said.
“But the question is why the Education Ministry took so long to resolve the issue. Land acquisition for schools is a normal affair and all that was required was for the Education Ministry to seek the consent of the state for the acquisition of land.
“While fully-aided schools will have a federal budget, partially-aided schools might have problems although assistance could have been sought from the state to acquire the land.
“Alternative arrangements could have also been made to raise funds to purchase the land but unfortunately the Education Ministry failed in its duty to address the matter of the school land.”
According to Ramasamy, the Penang state could have come out with a plan of action had it been approached
“Contrary to what Najib claimed there is no nefarious attempt by the PH coalition to embarrass the federal government or the Education Ministry on the matter of the school’s closure.
“Neither is there an attempt to say that the government is punishing a Christian missionary school,” he concluded. – Jan 11, 2022
