The cracks that were reported at SMK Matupang Jaya following the earthquake last Saturday.
KOTA KINABALU: SMK Matupang Jaya in Ranau has reported cracks on the school building following an earthquake measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale last Saturday.
Speaking to reporters after presenting his 2014 address at the State Federal Administrative Building auditorium yesterday, State Education Department director Datuk Jame Alip said the school had suffered some cracks and the Ranau District Education Office together with technical personnel from the Public Works Department went there yesterday for an inspection to determine if they were dangerous.
He said that once the inspection was concluded, the school could request for an allocation to repair the cracks and ensure the safety of the people inside the building.
Jame believed that the cracks would not deter the school from functioning normally and cited it also suffered from building cracks after an earthquake several years ago.
“Maintenance work has since repaired them,” he said.
Aside from SMK Matupang Jaya, the department has yet to receive reports from other schools in the district that had suffered a similar fate.
Jame urged his officers and teachers at District Education Offices and schools to constantly update him and the department on matters relevant to the education development at their areas.
“Contact us directly so that follow-up actions can be taken … use technologies such as Facebook and WhatsApp to keep in touch so that maintenance work can be carried out,” he said.
On the prices of food and drinks sold at school canteens, the director said the Education Department had set up a monitoring committee headed by the school principals and headmasters.
“This committee has been in place a long time ago to ensure that canteen operators maintain the pricing that they have agreed to when they won the tender (to run the canteen operation),” he said, adding canteens in Sabah have not raised the prices of food and drinks.
However, he said complaints had been received in Tawau but upon further investigation, the department did not find any price hike.