‘UiTM Sabah campus buildings in need of repairs, upgrading’
KOTA KINABALU: The 50-yearold Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Sabah campus buildings are in need of repairs and upgrading.
During a working visit to the campus grounds near Sepanggar here on Friday, Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Ts Mustapha Sakmud led a delegation from his ministry around the campus to check on its development and infrastructure.
Mustapha was then briefed on the campus’ latest achievements and roadmap, and he was informed that the campus buildings are dilapidated and require urgent attention from the central UiTM management.
He said the estimated budget for the repairs and related works are quite high, and it will be a matter of figuring out which specific problems should be addressed first.
“As we all know, UiTM Sabah is the brainchild of former Chief Minister Tun Datu Mustapha Datu Harun to provide basic education to Sabah children, especially Bumiputeras from the B40 bracket. And this tradition has continued until now as UiTM still accepts students from rural areas to study at their campuses in Kota Kinabalu and Tawau.
“However, after 50 years, the campus buildings have become dilapidated and require pressing attention. God willing, I will bring the issues that was brought up to me to attention to ensure that the learning and teaching process at UiTM Sabah is not hindered due to unsafe buildings.
“This is one of my main agendas as a deputy minister from Sabah to continue the efforts of the previous leadership. We want to make sure that UiTM continues to be an excellent education institution in Sabah so that we can help the B40 group in the state,” he told reporters.
Meanwhile, UiTM Sabah rector, Prof Madya Dr Rozita @ Uji Mohamed, said one of the issues the campus is facing in regards to infrastructure is the lack of accommodation for its students. Prof Rozita said aside from a safe and conducive space to learn, the students also require appropriate living space, especially considering around 70 percent of them are from the B40 bracket.
“The campus currently has 5,000 students in total but its accommodation can only fit 3,000, meaning there are 2,000 of our students who are living outside - and we all know how hard it can get in these current times. So I feel like establishing another residential college should be prioritised, and then we can work on having more lecture halls and such.
“There is an imbalance in, for example, implementing more programmes or creating more classrooms but the students are not provided a place to live,” she said.