Show clear reasons for axing project

I REFER to the report “Maszlee: Decision to halt building SJKCs final” (The Star, June 30).

The ink stain on the nail of my left index finger is still very apparent after GE14 but we are already mired in a controversy affecting a very important and vulnerable segment of our population – our young children.

The matter becomes worse when it involves axing a project that was, according to MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong, fully studied by a team of professionals who justified it on sound facts and which was accepted and approved by the government.

Having worked as a school health officer, I have visited schools, examined the children and reported on the school’s health environment. It was apparent even then that many Chinese-medium schools were overcrowded and lacked important facilities such as a playing field.

Any responsible new minister who chooses to reverse such a project should show that he has thoroughly reviewed the need and produce good evidence that it should be halted.

What criteria were used to deny young children a decent environ- ment to start their education while there is money to allow adults already expensively educated to tertiary level by the state to defer their PTPTN repayments if they earn less than RM4,000 monthly?

We, the electorate, want to hold this new government to account on its promise to be clean, fair and accountable for its action.

The Education Minister should either produce more facts and figures to support his decision or reverse it.