Explain hike in cost of repairing schools, PH tells education minister

 

The Pakatan Harapan education committee says the drastic rise in costs to repair dilapidated schools has raised questions.

PETALING JAYA: Opposition MPs want education minister Radzi Jidin to explain the increase in the cost of repairing dilapidated schools across the country.

The Pakatan Harapan (PH) committee on education, led by Maszlee Malik, said the huge hike in school repair costs had raised questions.

“We would like the minister to provide a detailed explanation on the drastic increase in costs. Together with the works ministry, it must list the 148 dilapidated schools that need to be repaired quickly.

“Such a list is important for public scrutiny. It will let the people evaluate whether the increase is justified and that prices have not been marked up,” they said in a joint statement today.

Besides Maszlee, other members of the committee are Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, Hasan Bahrom, Teo Nie Ching, Natrah Ismail, Steven Sim and Rusnah Aluai.

Earlier this week, during the Dewan Rakyat sitting, Radzi had said he could not disclose the cost of repairs for each dilapidated school.

The minister said the cost varied from one school to another.

This prompted Teo to dispute Radzi’s reply, stating that his refusal to disclose details was unreasonable.

Maszlee, who was the education minister during PH’s administration, joined in and said that during his tenure, the government had provided a list of schools. - FMT