MPAJ’s move unreasonable, says Chong
‘Council rejecting school construction over land size’
KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Education Minister Datuk Chong Sin Woon has described as “unreasonable” the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council’s (MPAJ) move to again reject plans to build SJK(C) Choon Hwa in Lembah Maju, Ampang, because of the proposed land size.
“Why do we (the ministry) need to inform MPAJ about the usage of the land when it is for the sake of education?
“The school has the right to construct what it wants after receiving approval from the ministry to build on the land.
“MPAJ’s job is to check and approve the blueprint,” he said after presenting a cheque for RM1mil to SJK(C) Choon Hwa at the construction site yesterday.
The school has received a total of RM4mil in funds from the ministry to date.
Currently located at Batu 18, Hulu Langat, the school received approval from the ministry for relocation in 2008.
Chong urged the council to speed up the approval process, adding that it had already been a 10-year wait.
“Everything has been set and people are waiting. The council should not obstruct the school’s plans,” he said.
He also pointed out that there were several other secondary schools operating on land smaller than 2.023ha.
Clearly frustrated, the school’s board of directors chairman Cheong Yew Hon, who has spent the last decade fighting for the relocation and construction of the primary school, said the school had always cooperated with MPAJ’s requirements, but the demands imposed made it hard for it to keep up.
“We changed the school’s blueprint when MPAJ first rejected it, and we did whatever we could to comply with the council’s requirements,” Cheong said.
The second rejection came after MPAJ’s technical committee raised questions about the land’s size.
According to the council’s records, the total land size for the proposed site was 3.6ha but building plans only covered 1.2ha.
In a letter dated April 28, 2017, to Choon Hwa’s school board, MPAJ Engineering Department director Zafrul Fazry Mohd Fauzi stated that the minimum requirement for a school was 2.023ha, according to Selangor’s manual guidelines and state planning standards.
The Education Ministry received a letter from MPAJ on Dec 7 seeking an explanation on the usage of the remaining 2.4ha.
The school’s building committee vice-chairman Datuk Leong Kok Wee, who is also Pandan MCA chief, said he hoped construction could start soon, adding that he had a letter from the ministry dated May 2012 giving it permission to occupy 1.214ha of the Lembah Maju school reserve land.
The school at Batu 18, Hulu Langat, now has about 30 pupils.
Signatures from the parents and guardians seeking consent for the relocation have already been obtained.
Pupils can either continue classes at the new location or remain in Hulu Langat upon the completion of the Lembah Maju school.