A Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) activist claimed that Higher Education Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir dismissed the students' concerns during a meeting.
Suara Mahasiswa UMS deputy president Qistina Qaisara Syahril Akmar also alleged that Zambry had contradicted information they received from the university's vice-chancellor.
"Before leaving, I handed over the UMS students' memorandum. He only glanced at me and replied that the vice-chancellor said the water issue was resolved, while the Higher Education Ministry has no power to cut fees.
"(This is) despite the vice-chancellor previously saying the the power was in the hands of the Higher Education Ministry.
"This contradiction made the students even more confused, and it felt like our voices were simply being taken lightly," she said in a statement today.
Malaysiakini has reached out to Zambry for his comments.
UMS vice-chancellor Kasim Mansur previously said that the university started facing water shortages as early as 2020, following rapid development in nearby areas.
On June 5, during a meeting with Kasim, a group of student activists reiterated a call for administrators to file an RM100 million suit against the state’s water department.
On June 3, Warisan Youth chief Terence Au questioned why the Sabah government allegedly downplayed the critical water crisis at UMS, despite substantial evidence.
He also asked why the university’s efforts to address the issue since 2023 were ignored or allegedly dismissed by the state water department.
No reply
Commenting further, Qistina said she had gone through official channels to raise the student's complaints.
"In June, I sent an official email to the higher education minister, complete with data and a memorandum demanding a fee reduction that had been stamped by the vice-chancellor.
"However, until the day of the meeting, my email had never been replied to," she alleged.
Besides that, Qistina claimed she was reprimanded at the meeting for being rude when she tried to raise the students' concerns.
She added that she had travelled from Sabah to Kuala Lumpur to meet Zambry, lamenting that the meeting had proved to be disappointing.
"The audience had to wait for almost an hour because Zambry was late.
"Even more unfortunate, the audience also had to listen to him monologue without content, while in the tentative (programme) it was clearly stated that there would be an open dialogue session with the minister.
"We students had already arranged our turn numbers to present proposals and solutions, but the meeting time ended with him speaking, without listening to our voices," she said. - Mkini
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