PAITAN: Continuous heavy rain since the night of Feb 18 triggered severe flooding in several parts of northern Sabah, leaving a rural primary school in Paitan badly damaged just as pupils were due to return after a week-long break.
At Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Bawang, rising floodwaters submerged classrooms, the teachers' room and learning facilities in what residents described as the worst flood ever to hit the area.
Almost all teaching materials, including textbooks, computers, televisions, desks and chairs, were destroyed after being inundated. Thick mud now covers classroom floors, while damaged furniture has been piled outside the buildings.
School security guard Muksin Majambu said the water level rose rapidly in the early hours of the morning.
"We thought it was a normal flood like before, but this time the water rose too fast," he said, adding that two teachers who were still at the school were moved to safety at a nearby mosque around 4am.
"During my 11 years serving here, this is the first time I have experienced something this traumatic," he said when met at the school, Sunday (Feb 22). School cleaner July Janting said floods usually occurred two or three times a year but had never entered classrooms.
"This time the school was completely submerged. It has never been this bad," she said, adding that only four cleaning staff would begin clearing mud and debris. Residents in Kampung Bawang and surrounding areas said the flood caught many by surprise, as previous incidents had only seen water rise to the compound level.
All schools in Sabah are scheduled to reopen on Monday (Feb 23) after a week-long holiday, but cleaning works have now taken priority before classes can resume. Severe flooding triggered by continuous heavy rain since the night of Feb 18 has affected several districts across Sabah, with rural areas such as Paitan among the worst hit as rising waters submerged homes, schools and basic facilities.
Earlier, Education director Datuk Raisin Saidin said replacement classes would be arranged based on the number of schooling days lost due to the floods.
