Lai (right) and Kuan (left) showing Kong the termite-infected corridor.
MIRI: A wooden block of the 61-year-old SJK (C) Chung Hua Sungai Lumut in Bekenu is in bad shape, no thanks to termites.
The school’s board of management chairman Kuan Chui Tho said termites had been attacking that block for years, and the situation now was bad. The affected block houses an office, a hall, a science lab and a classroom.
“For the last 10 years, the school board has spent about RM300,000 on repairs and maintenance works to replace damaged ceilings and other affected parts..
“We are aware that our approach will not solve the problem over the long haul, but there is nothing else we can do due to financial constraints,” she told reporters after receiving a visit from United Association of Chinese Primary Aided School Boards of Management Miri and Limbang Divisions led by its chairman Lawrence Kong San Hoe.
Kuan revealed there was a plan to demolish the damaged block and replace it with a new concrete block, but it would cost about RM1.5 million.
“During the school’s 60th anniversary celebration, we set up a fund for the new block.
“We needed support from the government and other bodies to get the project off the ground.”
Meanwhile, Kong said the association would do its best to help make the project a success.
Although the school has only 29 pupils and 12 teachers, he said they deserved to have proper facilities, too.
He said he was told by headmaster Lai Cheo Tian that the number of pupils in the school since 2000 fluctuated between 26 and 50. Sixty per cent of its pupils are Bumiputeras, like Malay, Kedayans and Ibans, and the rest Chinese.