109 Sabah schools in bad shape

Papar: The Government has identified 109 dilapidated schools in Sabah for rehabilitation and upgrading this year through an allocation of RM500 million.Deputy Works Minister Datuk Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin said the allocation was part of RM1 billion announced for the programme by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in Budget 2018.

Of the total number of schools, she said 74 would be handled by the Ministry of Education through the Sabah Education Department, while the remaining 35 would be by the Public Works Department.

"The implementation is expected to begin in March this year, and we hope that everything will proceed smoothly.

At the Ministry level, we have held a meeting, and at the meeting, the Works Minister himself directed that the implementation of the project should be monitored by a task force.

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"In Sarawak, (the task force) will be headed by the Works Minister himself, while I have been entrusted to lead the task force in Sabah," Rosnah, who is also Papar MP, told reporters after handing over schooling needs contributed by North-South Expressway (PLUS) Malaysia Berhad at SK Tanaki, here, Friday.

At the event, 60 students received schooling needs. The Deputy Minister had earlier handed out the aid at three schools, bringing the total number of recipients to 300.

Rosnah said once the contractor had been appointed, by the end of the month, a special meeting for the task force would be held, which she would chair.

She said meetings for the task force comprising officers from the Works Ministry and Education Ministry would be held from time to time to discuss matters arising.

According to her, the Government would be using either the Industrial Building System or conventional approach to complete the projects within three to four months.

"Sabah has been given a little bit of flexibility in that the projects can be implemented via the conventional method in view of the geographical factors. Sabah and Sarawak are unique in terms of their geography, so we have been given the flexibility if necessary," she said.

Rosnah said all the projects, including five schools in Papar, were expected to be completed this year.

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"For your information, the RM1 billion allocation for Sabah will be implemented in two phases, that is in 2018 and 2019. (For the) 2018 phase, it is RM500 million, and another RM500 million will be for the 2019 phase.

"We thank the Federal Government, especially Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who himself felt the need to upgrade our schools and give a fresh new look to the classrooms, science labs and toilets," she said.

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