351 dilapidated schools in Sarawak, 107 deemed unsafe

The education ministry says that in Sabah, 186 of 282 upgrading projects on dilapidated schools have been completed as of July 6.

FMT Reporters -

*Education minister Radzi Jidin says 282 dilapidated schools in Sabah are being upgraded at a cost of RM1.9 billion.* (File pic)

PETALING JAYA: The education ministry has identified 351 dilapidated schools in Sarawak, of which 107 have been deemed unsafe by the public works department (JKR).

Education minister Radzi Jidin said the 244 other schools deemed dilapidated involved unsafe buildings, adding that this was confirmed by the district education offices.

In a written parliamentary reply, he said 282 upgrading projects for dilapidated schools in Sabah had been approved from 2016 to 2022, involving RM1.9 billion in costs.

As of July 6, 186 of these projects had been completed while 32 were ongoing and 64 were at the pre-construction stage.

Radzi was replying to Larry Sng (PBM-Julau) and Ma’mun Sulaiman (Warisan-Kalabakan) on the number of dilapidated schools in Sabah and Sarawak.

He also said the reconstruction of SMK Kalabakan, which was categorised as dilapidated, was still at the negotiation stage because the land involved had yet to be placed under the federal land commissioner’s ownership.