‘Dilapidated schools repair has begun, just ask S’wak JKR’

KUCHING: Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen yesterday refuted the claim that Putrajaya has reneged on its promise to repair dilapidated schools in Sarawak after the state government settled RM700 million out of RM1 billion under a contra loan.

Lashing out at Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg over the claim, Chong said according to the Sarawak Public Works Department (JKR), work on two schools had begun after the tender was awarded on Jan 14.

The repair works for the two schools are expected to be completed in July 2021, he said.

He added that four other projects had been awarded on Feb 14, 2020 with completion expected in August next year, and 15 more schools would be tendered out in March 2020, which are expected to be done in September next year.

Chong said these schools were among 37 dilapidated schools identified by the state government for repairs under the arrangement with the federal government.

The value and scope of works for another 16 schools were being reviewed by JKR and the state Education Department with tender to be called in March this year, said Chong, adding that the projects were expected to be awarded in May with completion targeted for November next year.

He explained that the review of the value and scope of the 16 school projects was necessary because the state government had attached too high a cost for their repairs.

“As the Chief Minister of Sarawak, Abang Johari surely has access to all this information and in fact, Abang Johari is in control of the JKR Sarawak which is under the state government. Why had he not sought verification with JKR Sarawak before making such a baseless and sweeping statement?,” he asked.

“Looking at the progress of these 37 school repair projects, I do not think that the state JKR is delaying the projects to sabotage federal-funded projects.”

Blaming the former government under Barisan Nasional (BN) for failing to repair dilapidated schools in Sarawak, Chong said there were more than 1,000 schools that needed repairs and their number was now decreasing as the Pakatan Harapan government had taken action.

Abang Johari had said at an event here on Tuesday that Putrajaya had failed to keep its end of the deal although the state had already paid the second tranche of RM350 million for a total of RM700 million on February 7 this year.

He said with the next deadline to pay the contra loan in three more months, the state government might have to withhold the payment until an amicable agreement has been met.

“When we (state government) paid RM700 million (contra deal) to fix our dilapidated schools, they (Putrajaya) said must follow the new way. But not a single (Sarawak dilapidated) school has been fixed, although money has been paid,” Abang Johari said.

The chief minister revealed that Sarawak Minister of Education, Science and Technological Research Dato Sri Michael Manyin would be meeting Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to discuss this matter on March 12.