U-turn as Putrajaya snubs loan contra deal
KUCHING: The federal loan contra formula which was agreed upon by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg and Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik to repair dilapidated schools in Sarawak has apparently hit a bump in the road.
This was revealed by Minister of Education, Science and Technological Research Dato Sri Michael Manyin who told reporters that his ministry was in the process of setting up a special committee with the federal Education Ministry when his officers were called to a meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
“The federal government has rejected the loan contra and is insisting that the RM1 billion be solely taken as ‘advance payment’ to the federal government on loans owed by the state,” he said after officiating at a scholarship grant ceremony at SMK St Joseph, here yesterday.
On reports quoting Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching as urging the Sarawak government to ‘quickly channel’ the RM1 billion fund to the federal ministry, Manyin reminded Teo that education is the responsibility of the federal government.
“Actually, she should not say ‘give us (federal ministry) the money’. We (Sarawak) should ( be the ones who) say ‘give us the money’,” he said, adding it is the duty of the federal government to repair or rebuild dilapidated schools in the state.
However, he reiterated that he was not blaming the Pakatan Harapan federal government over the issue of dilapidated schools, as many ministers under the previous Barisan Nasional federal government had also visited the state but had done nothing.
“We really hope that Pakatan Harapan will do things differently compared with the previous Barisan Nasional government.
“With the special dividend of RM30 billion received by the federal government from Petronas, I hope Putrajaya will provide the much-needed funds to the state to solve the issue of dilapidated schools,” he said.
On another note, Manyin said that Sarawak Education Department will be focusing on three fronts, the first being the merger of schools with fewer than 150 students.
He said the department is currently facing challenges in proceeding with the plan as consent from the parents of the students concerned is needed first.
The second front is the repair of critically dilapidated schools in the state, while the third is the relocation of 216 schools located along riverbanks, as such schools are prone to suffer from flooding every year, he added.