The new classroom building at SK St Lawrence is currently the temporary ‘hostel’ for the schoolboys.
The site of the new Sri Aman Hospital project, which has been experiencing delays since 2013.
Kapitan Tay Siaw Chuan
SRI AMAN: Construction works on the new hostel block for boys at SK St Lawrence here will commence once the plan and quotations are finalised by the appointed consultant of the project.
“The plan and the quotations for the project should be ready sometime between late June and July this year,” one of the school staff members told The Borneo Adventure Team (Bat) 7 yesterday.
“The (cost of the) new boys hostel is estimated between RM750,000 and RM1 million.”
According to the school staff member, the old hostel block was severely infested with termites and was demolished in April this year.
At the moment, the schoolboys are putting up at one of the classrooms, while the dining hall is temporarily occupying the block where Living Skills subject is being taught.
SK St Lawrence is about 5km away from town. It houses 246 pupils – 88 of whom are staying at its hostels, 23 teachers and 11 non-teaching staff members.
It sits upon the site of St Luke’s School, which was built by the Anglican Church missionaries together with a church in 1831.
The school was renamed St Lawrence in 1948. The existing school buildings and hostels – including the demolished one – were built in 1968.
The school was highlighted by BAT6 last year when a concerned member of the public said the buildings there were ‘ticking time bombs’ and appealed to the authorities to pay serious attention to the matter.
Meanwhile, there appear to be some works in progress at the site of the new Sri Aman Hospital project – one that is experiencing some delays since its announcement by the Prime Minister in 2013.
BAT 7 was unable to get anyone to speak about the project – the site is a strictly no-go area for the public.
“We hope that the authorities concerned could expedite the project because the old Sri Aman Hospital cannot cope, with the present facilities that it has,” said local community leader Kapitan Tay Siaw Chuan.
The project kicked off in 2015 but has been experiencing delays due to some problems in its structural designs, which must be compatible with the new layout.
According to Tay, any major or severe cases brought to the present hospital would have to be referred to Sarawak General Hospital in Kuching.
“The travelling for the patients is not very comfortable, in terms of time and road conditions, which are especially bad with the construction of the Pan Borneo Highway underway.
“This actually adds more risks to the patients,” he said.
The site of the boys’ hostel block at SK St Lawrence, which was demolished in April this year.
The Living Skills block currently serves as the dining hall for the school boarders.