(From third left) Site manager for SMK Tudan project, Low Ing Huat, Dr Hassan, Lee and others during the visit to the site.
MIRI: The construction of the RM48.3 million SMK Tudan is on track and is about 50 per cent completed, while that of the RM33.2 million SK Tudan Jaya adjacent to it has just begun and is currently at the piling stage.
Assistant Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Lee Kim Shin said SMK Tudan is expected to be completed by July next year while SK Tudan Jaya, which started construction last November after land-clearing, is scheduled to be completed by January 2020.
“Once the schools are completed, they will cater for the increased number of students in Tudan and Senadin,” he told reporters during a visit to the schools’ construction site in Tudan here yesterday.
Also present was Miri Education Officer Dr Hassan Hasbollah.
Lee, who is Senadin assemblyman, said Senadin constituency currently has four primary schools, namely SK Merbau with 1,600 pupils; SK Tudan and SK Senadin with more than 1,000 pupils each; as well as SJKC Chung Hua Tudan with more than 1,500 pupils.
“Meanwhile, two secondary schools in the area are SMK Merbau, which has almost 3,000 students, and SMK Pujut with more than 2,000 students. This means that all the schools are overcrowded and not able to provide a comfortable study environment for the students,” he said.
SMK Tudan is being constructed on a 14.2-hectare land and includes a football field, two sports courts, a multipurpose hall, a canteen and a surau.
“The main building where the administration block and teachers’ room are located also has 36 classrooms, a science lab, a computer lab, a library and other facilities,” disclosed Lee.
He said with a big land area, SMK Tudan will be the only school in Miri with a student drop-off and pick-up point constructed within the school compound, making it safer for students.
“The drop-off and pick-up point, which is located within the school compound, includes parking bays for parents as well as school buses. Apart from ensuring the students’ safety, it will also smooth traffic flow.”
He added that there will be separate parking bays for teachers and parents with the teachers’ bays located in front of the main building and administration office.
On SK Tudan Jaya, Lee said the primary school will have a science lab, computer room, music room, school hall and 30 classrooms, along with a pre-school for children below the age of seven.