Housing, Tamil schools among Pulai Indian community’s key concerns

JOHOR BARU – The Indian community in the Pulai parliamentary constituency hopes that the new representative for the seat left vacant by the late Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub will continue his efforts to protect and empower their welfare.

Some of the constituents expressed their satisfaction with the initiatives carried out by both the federal and state governments.

However, they hoped that more assistance will be provided, including speeding up the land ownership process for the construction of Tamil schools and housing.

Chairman of the Sri Subramaniar Temple in Tampoi, K. Arumugan said Indians in Kempas need new schools, as the existing schools are overcrowded.

“We hope that the elected representative can bring about better developments in issues related to housing, Tamil schools, temples and other matters that require funding.

“There is land available located between Kempas under the Pulai parliamentary constituency and the Iskandar Puteri constituency…we hope this issue can be resolved immediately,” he said. 

K. Mohana, 50, a Kempas resident, also hoped that the new representative would expedite the process for land ownership for the school and also prioritise the plight of the B40 group.

Pulai has 20,508 or 12.31% of Indian voters covering the Perling and Kempas state constituencies.

Meanwhile, the Pakatan Harapan candidate for the Pulai parliamentary by-election, Suhaizan Kaiat said he is determined to fulfil the initiatives to assist the Indian people in Pulai that were planned by Salahuddin, adding that if given the mandate, he would strive to safeguard their welfare.

He said this to reporters at the programme to meet with the Indian community in Tampoi today.

Suhaizan is being challenged by Perikatan Nasional candidate Zulkifli Jaafar and Independent candidate Samsudin Mohamad Fauzi.

The Pulai parliamentary and Simpang Jeram state by-elections were triggered by the death of Amanah deputy president Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub on July 23.

The Election Commission has set the by-elections for both seats to be held simultaneously with early voting on September 5, and polling day on September 9. – Bernama, August 30, 2023