Kedah state govt has failed the Indians

MIC Baru

A Pakatan Rakyat state assemblyman has dismissed allegations by certain quarters, including a few Indian-based NGOs, that the Kedah state government had not done much for the Indians there. According to Bukit Selambau ADUN S. Manikumar, the state government had done its best to help the community bearing in mind its ‘limited resources’: “It’s unfair to expect Pakatan to clean up all the mess left by the Barisan Nasional in more than 50 years within three years." The Indians already punished BN for this, now they are looking at what has happened good for them since 8 March 2008! This is the same old excuse, “cleaning up the mess of 50 years can’t be done in 3 years”. Some of the mess can be cleared in a short time, provided there is will power. Our dear Ustaz Azizan cannot be bothered about the Indians in Kedah. If he has, it will be good for the Kedah Pakatan State Government to come out with its report card to show what difference has been made. As the MIC now understands, Indians are no longer happy if they are granted a meeting or audience to inform their demands and present their needs. The PAS MB has many meetings with Indians with zero results. That is why Ustaz Azizan will never issue a report card detailing what PAS-Pakatan has done for Indians in Kedah. S. Manikumar made a big deal about giving out RM229,000 for 58 schools in Kedah. This is nothing to shout about as it works out to barely RM4,000 per school. You can say that this is something new and that the previous government hadn’t given anything but “giving something is better than nothing” won’t work anymore because the other party can give something more than the “something” you are giving. Since 2008, BN has committed nearly RM300,000,000 to SJKTs throughout the country to rebuild old buildings, expand and build new buildings and to do general needed repairs. This is 1300 times what the Kedah PAS-Pakatan Government has done. The Kedah Indian EXCO should inform us of what is the status of the land allocation for schools. For the last 3 years, don’t tell me they can’t even get land for any of the 49 partially-aided schools in Kedah? We hope YB S. Manikumar can give some straight answers on this. You are not the Opposition anymore, it is not enough to just talk and talk and complain about MIC or BN. The people are watching to see if you are delivering! MIC Baru