At least 150 people gathered at the Effingham Tamil school in Bandar Utama yesterday to protest a suspicious land deal involving the school and MIC.

Those present comprised members of Concerned Youth Movement (CYM) and parents of the students.

effingham school 050808 protest CYM pro-tem president G Manivanan Gowin said today that a week-long signature drive had been launched during the protest, to drum up support to reclaim the site.

“We have 300 signatures and are planning to hold a bigger protest to collect more signatures,” he said..

“Once that is done, we will discuss what to do with the petition - maybe send it to relevant ministries or leaders in the federal government.”

The issue surfaced when English-language daily The Sun reported on Sept 4 that MIC, among others, owned 24,000 sq metres of land adjacent to the school. The developer had designated this for public amenities.

effingham school 050808 school The parcel of land was handed to the state government, but was later procured by private parties including MIC. The land has since been developed for commercial purposes.

MIC secretary-general S Subramaniam has denied any impropriety in the matter, saying this was done according to the law.

Manivanan, however, said CYM is considering lodging reports with the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) and the police to investigate the matter.

“The police and the ACA have failed to initiate proper investigation into the land deal. The land belongs to the school,” argued Manivanan.

mic malaysia indian congress He also said the MIC has an obligation to the Indian Malaysian community.

“MIC claims to be the saviour of the community. If that is so, they should return it (the land) to the school. This will ensure that the future of hundreds of Indian children are safeguarded,” said Manivanan.

CYM is committed - with the cooperation of parents - to fight for and regain the land.

“We will talk to our legal team and see if we should take legal action,” added Manivanan.