Govt approves 93 projects to repair dilapidated schools in Sarawak

The government has approved a total of 93 projects to repair dilapidated schools in Sarawak for phases one and two as at Aug 17, costing RM700 million, said Deputy Education Minister I Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon.

He said that the implementation of the project was funded through an allocation of RM1 billion, which is a contra loan (to repair the schools) which has been agreed by the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Sarawak government.

He said that until July, a total of RM700 million had been repaid by the Sarawak government.

“Overall, the projects to repair schools’ dilapidated buildings will be implemented via three phases; phase one involves 41 schools with a project cost of RM350 million while phase two involves 52 schools, costing RM350 million.

“Meanwhile for phase three, in terms of list and scope of projects, these are currently being finalised by the MOE together with the Sarawak government involving cost totalling RM300 million,” he said during the question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat, today.

He said this in his reply to a question from Datuk Robert Lawson Chuat (GPS-Betong) who wanted to know the status of the implementation of upgrading or rebuilding of dilapidated schools in Sarawak after the state repaid a total of RM700 million of a RM1 billion loan to the federal government.

Dr Mah, who detailed the implementation status of phase one, said that a total of 21 projects were in the construction phase and another 20 projects were in the pre-construction stage.

As for the implementation status of phase two, all projects are in the pre-built phase, with the Sarawak Public Works Department is carrying out survey work and preparation of tender documents, and the project is expected to be tendered in stages from Aug 22, he said.

He explained that the implementation of the rehabilitation projects covers various scopes including the construction of classrooms, administrative blocks, hostels, teachers’ quarters, resource centres, toilets and other facilities.

In replying to Chuat’s supplementary question on the number of schools in the Betong parliamentary constituency that had been approved under the allocation, Dr Mah said a total of nine schools had been approved, including Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Mangut; SK Spaoh; SK Bungin; SK Medang; SK Suri; and Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Spaoh.

-- BERNAMA