Tamil school at risk of collapse due to termites, say parents

PARENTS of pupils at SJK(T) Ladang Pertang, one of the oldest Tamil schools in the country, claim it is in danger of collapsing due to termite damage, Makkal Osai reported.

The school in Ladang Pertang, about 70km from Seremban, has fewer than 100 pupils and was supposed to have been relocated last year.

Pupils have been forced to continue classes in the old wooden building, said ParentTeacher Association head S. Vijayakumar.

The report said snakes were also a common sight at the school, which is near a jungle.

A 2.4ha plot of land in a residential area near Simpang Pertang was identified for the school’s new location in 2012.

Construction work on the RM8.5mil, threestorey school building started in 2014.

It was supposed to be completed in February 2017 but had yet to materialise, said school board member S. Mahendran.

> A group representing transgenders in Andra Pradesh, India, are building a temple dedicated to chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for his assistance to the community, Tamil Nesan reported.

The Samantha Hijras Hakkula Ikya Porata Vedika association, which works for the betterment of transgenders, said the state’s longest serving chief minister had done more for the community than any of his predecessors.

Hijras Vedika founder P. Vijaya Kumar said Naidu had set up a new welfare board and proposed a monthly pension, ration cards, housing sites, state ID cards and small loans for the community.

The temple will be the first in the state dedicated to a person and will feature a 5kg silver statue of Naidu as a deity.