The issue of Certificate of Fitness (CF) for the Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology (Aimst) was discussed with the appropriate local council long before the expiry of the temporary CF last week, said MIC president S Samy Vellu.

"During our negotiations with the said local council, it was agreed that a mosque will be built to comply with the CF requirements.

samy vellu pc 120308 prejudice "Although the Aimst university management has provided adequate 'suraus' for the over 30 Muslim students on the university’s land, we have nevertheless agreed to build a mosque and the decision was conveyed to the local council during our negotiations," he said in a statement.

Samy Vellu said the tender process to build the mosque is currently on going and will be completed soon.

"We expect the local council to approve the CF since the requirement to build a mosque has been complied with.

"We wish to assure the students and parents of the university that all the necessary arrangements have been made and there is no reason to worry," he added.

Chithirakala's charge

The MIC president was responding to Maju Institute for Education Development (MIED) chief executive officer P Chithirakala Vasu who on Friday said the university was being managed under a temporary CF which apparently expired last week.

p chithirakala on mied 280209 01 According to Chithirakala, Aimst was not given the CF due to non-compliance to the master plan of the university which required a mosque and a temple to be built.

She has added that the construction of a mosque and a temple in the university's grounds were also suggested by Samy Vellu.

"Now he doesn't want to build the building and blamed that the project managers had put it in the master plan... that is a blatant lie.

"But now he is denying it and said there is no money but there is RM50 million in fixed deposit. They only need RM4 million for the mosque and RM2 million for the temple," she had said.

Aimst is located in Semeling, Kedah and began operations two years ago. The university was the brainchild of Samy Vellu and was funded by donations from MIC branches throughout the country.

Insurance coverage

Meanwhile, regarding the insurance coverage in relation to Aimst, Samy Vellu said the university appointed United Oriental Assurance (UOA) owned by Maika Holdings Bhd.

"However, during our internal investigations into the matter, it was revealed that Chithirakala had (allegedly) hijacked the insurance coverage from UOA to the insurance agency owned by her husband.

"Our investigations also revealed that Chithirakala was involved in the misappropriation of a substantial amount of funds. Further investigations are underway," he said.