‘Approval for estate land given by BN govt’

Dr A Xavier Jayakumar said that the Pakatan government is negotiating with the landowner KL-Kepong Bhd for 10 acres of land.

PETALING JAYA: Selangor state executive councillor Dr A Xavier Jayakumar denied that the current Pakatan Rakyat state government had allocated land for Coalfields Estate.

“All the land was approved by the previous state government under the Barisan Nasional.

“We altered the agreement with the landowner [KL-Kepong Bhd] to provide four acres of land for a school,” said Jayakumar, who is also Sri Andalas state assemblyman of PKR.

He said this in response to a report yesterday where former Coalfields estate worker Lobat Raju, 44, claimed that the current Selangor state government had cheated former estate workers of 10 acres of land.

Raju supported his claim with a Tamil newspaper, Malaysia Nanban, news report dated June 30, 2008 that quoted Xavier as declaring that both Bukit Raja and Ladang Coalfields workers were awarded 15 acres and 10 acres respectively.

Jayakumar – who is in charge of plantation workers, poverty and compassionate government – told FMT that the negotiations for 10 acres of land are still ongoing.

“We are looking at eight to 10 acres of land for the construction of a Tamil school hostel. It is a long-term plan for the Indian community by Pakatan,” he said.

Jayakumar also dismissed Raju’s claim as mere hearsay.

“It is all hearsay. Raju is aiming to get a town house,” he said.

Jayakumar also said that all the estate workers have been provided with town houses in Desa Coalfields, located next to the estate.

“About 12 to 15 estate workers did not qualify for the house because they were blacklisted by CTOS [a private agency set up by banks that has a list of people who are financially blacklisted] but their children can still purchase the house.”