Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe by Email A bit too late as election goodie, but a good news nonetheless. Irony is that there is at least 40 schools that need repairs in the first place. Those that are familiar with Tamil schools situation will know that the number run into hundreds, out of 523 schools.
There should be some effort by the PTAs and other NGOs to monitor the construction work as sometime the workmanship can be quite shoddy. No point spending millions when the structure leaks or becomes unsafe for use.
I know of one case where more money had to be spent to repair a toilet area which was newly built, due to bad workmanship.
I guess this is one of Samy Vellu’s last effort as Works Minister, now being implemented by the new minister.
Minister: 40 Tamil schools slated for repair
http://malaysiakini.com/news/81841
Syed Jaymal Zahiid | Apr 23, 08 7:42pm
The tender to repair 40 Tamil schools nationwide will be open for bidding by May this year, said Works Minister Mohd Zin Mohamed. The reparation projects worth RM 41.5 million will fall under the Ninth Malaysian Plan and is estimated to begin this July.
Out of the 40 schools, 31 will include the development of additional buildings and the remaining will undergo infra-structural upgrades.
“RM30 million out of the total budget has been allocated and approved by the Finance Ministry. It involves 10 schools from Selangor and 15 from other states,” Zin told a press conference at the ministry’s office in Kuala Lumpur.
As for the remaining RM11. 5 million, the allocation will be given by the Education Ministry and streamed towards upgrading and reparation projects of nine schools while six others will receive additional buildings like canteens and toilets.
“Twenty-five of these projects will be given to D class contractors while 10 will go to F class contractors. B class and C class will each receive one contract each,” he added.
Tamil schools in this country suffer from poor maintenance and are often found in dilapidated conditions.
Various Tamil education activists including current Klang DAP MP Charles Santiago have called on the government to pour more effort towards upgrading these schools.
