Return Rented Houses Taken Away From B40 Students Union Tells Um

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The Universiti Malaya Students’ Union urged the authorities to open up two more residential colleges to accommodate more poor students affected by high cost of off-campus lodging.PETALING JAYA: The Universiti Malaya Students’ Union (UMSU) wants the institution’s administration to return the rented houses for the B40 students which it took away abruptly, leaving many of them in a lurch as a result.
In a lengthy letter to the authorities, it alleged that the Universiti Malaya Student Affairs Division (BHEP) was insensitive to the needs of the poor students there, especially those from Sabah and Sarawak.
It said BHEP had said these houses would be used as residences for the university employees.
Based on the UMSU’s website, the old bungalows are located near the 9th Residential College and have been refurbished for the B40 students to stay with rentals as low as RM150 per month.
This initiative was established to help the senior students, especially those from the B40 family and those from Sabah and Sarawak to get a place to stay throughout their academic session.
UMSU said that this issue could be easily resolved as there were other empty houses owned by the university nearby for the employees.
“The question is, why is BHEP refusing to maintain and repair these surplus houses so that they can be used as residences for UM employees?
“Why did BHEP chose to drive out the B40 students who cannot afford to pay the high cost of renting an off-campus accommodation?” the letter read.
The union has demanded that the university return the houses to the students and open up two more residential colleges to accommodate more poor students who could not afford off-campus lodging.
In addition, the union suggested that targeted aid should be given to eligible B40 students who failed to get residential college placement.
As for the long-term solution, the union urged the ministry of finance to allocate funding for the construction of more residential colleges in all public universities to cope with the influx of students. - FMT

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