KOTA KINABALU: Sabah assemblyman Tham Yun Fook says the government has taken too long to respond after flood damage forced SK Simpangan students into temporary learning spaces.
Tham, the Likas assemblyman, said in Kota Kinabalu that students and teachers at SK Simpangan in Paitan had been working under unsafe and limited conditions since the school was destroyed by floods in February.
“The only step announced after more than two months was a proposal to relocate the school under the 13th Malaysia Plan,” he said.
He said emergency funds should have been used immediately to provide safe, temporary facilities and keep classes running.
He said the response appeared to speed up only after the case drew public attention.
“The temporary move to the open hall at SMK Simpangan, with partitions, was an emergency measure,” said Tham.
He said the plan to keep students in temporary facilities until a new school was completed raised questions about how long construction would take and how long students would stay in the temporary site.
“The Education Ministry should give a clear timeline,” he said
On Sunday (April 19), State Education, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister James Ratib said officials had identified higher ground for relocating SK Simpangan. He said the plan still had to go through Land and Survey Department procedures before it could be submitted for approval under the 13th Malaysia Plan. He added that pupils were now attending classes in an open hall at SMK Simpangan.
