The MIC has resolved the Paya Besar Tamil school land issue in Lunas, Kedah when the education ministry agreed to finance the purchase of a piece of land, MIC president S Samy Vellu said today.

He said the ministry has allocated RM823,000 to purchase the two and a quarter acre land for the construction of the new fully-aided school.

He said education ministry has channeled the money to the Kedah land and mines commission to purchase the land.

"With the issue of the land now resolved, we can embark on the first phase of the school project," he said in a statement.

Samy Vellu said the new school is necessary to cater for the more than 10,000 Indian families residing in Paya Besar.

He said initially a single block (building) will be built on the new land to cater for the students, and additional blocks will be constructed when there is an increase in the student population.

"We are happy that this issue has been resolved after more than 30 months of negotiations," he said.

He also said that it will not have been successful without the cooperation of the Kampung Paya Besar Residents' Association's Secretary R Ammaiappan and the Taman Lobak MIC branch chairperson, the late P Puvanendran.

In thanking the education ministry for providing the grant to purchase the land, he said the MIC has also put up a list of Tamil schools throughout the country for redevelopment to be submitted to the ministry.