KENINGAU: The issue of land not yet gazetted as school sites has delayed the construction of new buildings to replace dilapidated school structures.
Assistant Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Jordan Jude Ellron, said one of the Federal Government’s requirements for building new schools is that the site or land must be gazetted under the name of the Ministry of Education Malaysia.
In this regard, he said he had raised the issue during a meeting with Keningau District Education Officer Suhaimi Haji Matshah and Sook District Officer Puan Caroline Benjamin Jiungan at the Keningau District Education Office, recently.
Also involved in the meeting were the Lands and Surveys Department and the Public Works Department (JKR).
“During the meeting, I called on the District Office, the District Education Office and the Lands and Surveys Department to expedite the process of the school sites concerned and bring the matter to the Land Use Committee (LUC) meeting so that educational development in the Sook district can be implemented,” he said.
According to Jordan, he was informed that more than 75 schools in the Sook district are still on loaned land status, affecting the ability for Federal Government allocations, particularly from the Ministry of Education, to be channelled for new school construction.
At the same time, he said that apart from land issues, dilapidated school buildings were also discussed during the meeting, as most school structures in the district are still made of wood.
Jordan expressed hope that land and school site issues in the district could be resolved promptly to allow the construction of new buildings to replace dilapidated ones.
He added that Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Kabatang, SK Nandagan, SK Lanas and SK Sinulihan are already at the design stage for new buildings.
He said this requires urgent action on land and site management to allow the next stages of the process to proceed.
In a related development, Jordan, who is also the Tulid State Assemblyman, said an allocation of RM43 million for the construction of new buildings for Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Tulid has been approved, with implementation expected to begin after Hari Raya.
He said the project involves seven blocks of buildings, including a hostel.
“This is the result of my application to Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Education Minister Puan Fadhlina Sidek in January,” he said.
