Jejak, the PAS-backed secretariat formed last November to track down next-of-kins of those forced to work in the so-called 'Death Railway' project in the 1940s, has decided to visit the Japanese embassy in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow in a bid to unravel truth over some RM207 billion in unpaid compensation.
Jejak chairman Nizar Jamaluddin said the move was being taken after the group failed to get any response from the government since he raised it in the parliament.
The Bukit Gantang member of parliament said members of the secretariat hope to get a clearer picture regarding the amount paid by Japan.
The money, said to have been handed over to the Malaysian government by Tokyo as far back as 2004, was meant to be distributed to some 30,000 Malaysians who had been recruited as forced labourers. The RM207 billion in compensation means each affected family is entitled to receive between RM2.8 and RM3 million.
The 'Death Railway' was an ambitious plan by the Japanese occupying army during the Second World War to link Burma and Thailand with 400-kilometres of railway tracks.
-Harakahdaily
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