Umno Youth today described the decision made by Kedah government to demolish the 100-year-old religious school, Madrasah Solihin, to build a shopping complex as a stupid and short-sighted move.

Its information chief Reezal Merican Naina Merican said the PAS-led government should have tried to preserve the Islamic heritage building instead of demolishing it for commercialisation purposes.

"This is a very worrying development and it shows that the Kedah government does not appreciate the history on the spread of Islam in the state," he told reporters in Kepala Batas today.

Earlier, Reezal Merican and former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi presented the Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Bertam Indah's Student Excellence Award 2011 to 288 pupils who excelled in this year's Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) examination.

Reezal Merican also said that Kepala Batas Umno was in the midst of organising a free haircut programme at the school.

The programme, which began yesterday until Jan 3, is part of Umno Youth efforts to ease the financial burden of parents in preparing school necessities for their children, he added.

- Bernama