DAP Penang is disturbed by news that the Beng Teik Main School in Lebuh Katz, Georgetown has been served a notice to quit by 30 April for its failure to pay rental for as long as 18 months.

I am shocked to learn that the State Education Department has failed to pay the monthly rental of the school premises to the landlord over the past 18 months.

If this is so, then the Deputy Education Minister Datuk Hon Choon Kim is guilty of misleading Parliament into believing that the Education Ministry has been paying the monthly rental of RM1000.

Just six months ago, the Deputy Minister told Dewan Rakyat on 28 June 2005 that the Ministry was still paying the monthly rental even though there were only 13 students in the school.

Datuk Hon Choon Kim was responding to my adjournment speech in Parliament on the relocation of the Beng Teik Main School.

Now we are surprised to learn that contrary to Datuk Hon’s promise at the Dewan Rakyat, the landowner was not paid for the past 18 months.

Datuk Hon has told a serious lie in Parliament and he should be reprimanded for it.

The DAP Penang also want Datuk Hon to explain whether the Ministry had actually approved the permit for the school to be relocated to Bukit Mertajam.

Datuk Hon must come out clean in this matter lest Beng Teik Main School would face the same fate as Sin Chung School in Kepala Batas.

CHOW KON YEOW