Chong Chieng Jen
KUCHING: The Pakatan Harapan (PH) government will ensure that regular and sufficient funding to upgrade and refurbish dilapidated schools will be granted to Sarawak every year, the coalition’s state chief Chong Chieng Jen said today.
“As the implementation of the repair works will be carried out by the Department of Works of Sarawak, we hope the state government will put every single ringgit allocated to good use and not treat these projects as their ATM machine for self-enrichment,” he said in a statement.
Chong, who is also Sarawak DAP chairman, added that the federal government will ensure that proper mechanism and supervision would be implemented so as to prevent any misappropriation of funds.
Taking a swipe at Petrajaya MP Fadillah Yusof, he said that if the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government’s priority was to help dilapidated schools, their number would not have grown to more than 1,000.
“The sheer number of more than 1,000 dilapidated schools in Sarawak speaks volumes of how much the previous Sarawak Barisan Nasional Government neglected the upkeep of these schools and the welfare of those school-going children,” he said, referring to GPS’ predecessor.
Fadillah, who is GPS’ chief parliamentary whip, had said yesterday that the constant calls by Chief Minister Datuk Abang Johari Tun Openg to expedite the repair of dilapidated schools was a reflection of the state’s sincerity in fighting for Sarawak’s rights.
Abang Johari on Wednesday expressed his appreciation to the Finance and Education Ministries for the commencement of the projects based on a list of 37 critically dilapidated schools submitted by the state government.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng had said the tender for seven schools had been advertised on Monday with the remaining 30 to be tendered out at the end of October this year.