Rural school HM still waiting for solar power panels

SIBU: A headmaster of a rural school in Balingian is wondering what happened to the solar power panels that were offered to his school.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said some officials came at the end of last year and claimed his school was among those included in the project.

“These people offered to install solar power panels as we have to rely on generators for power supply,” he said.

He did not know who they were and they went about surveying where to install the solar panels.

“They did not ask me to sign anything. They left without any followup. Until now I don’t know what happened to the project,” he said.

He added he was shocked when he read a news report about RM1.25bil solar hybrid project being investigated by the Malaysian AntiCorruption Commission (MACC).

In Petaling Jaya, MACC also issued a statement to deny claims in a local daily that it did not act on the case.

MACC said initial investigations started in early April – a month before GE14 – following information it received from the public.

It had also seized related documents from the Education Ministry to determine whether there were elements of corruption.

In Putrajaya, Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik said the project granted to Jepak Holdings Sdn Bhd involved 369 schools in Sarawak.

He said there might have been a serious breach in how the contract was awarded.

He added that the project was supposed to be 51% completed by May 15, if it had gone according to schedule.

Meanwhile, Dr Maszlee said internal transfers and promotions within all State Education Departments and District Education Offices had been frozen with immediate effect.

He said this was to prevent individuals “who were faithful to the old regime” from holding key positions and sabotaging Pakatan Harapan’s efforts to improve the education system.