BUKIT MERTAJAM, March 26 — The Ministry of Education (MoE) has not made any decision to halt the construction of the new Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil (SJKT) Sungai Bakap building in Nibong Tebal, near here.
Its minister Fadhlina Sidek said the ministry is still in discussions regarding the project and so far nothing has been decided on whether to discontinue or proceed with the construction of the new school building.
“I wish to thank everyone for their concern on this project. Discussions have been ongoing. Only two weeks ago I met the headmaster and school representatives and we are having another meeting today.
“So, there is no issue of a final decision being made. For the children’s education, we will always give room for discussion, so don’t worry,” she told reporters after the launch of the Smart Classroom project by Yayasan Aeon Malaysia and Yayasan Didik Negara at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Mengkuang, here today.
She said this when asked to comment on the development of the SJKT Sungai Bakap additional building which is said to have been discontinued due to insufficient funds.
Fadhlina, who is also Nibong Tebal MP, said among matters that must be taken into consideration in the negotiations were the children’s development and issues related to education around the area.
Commenting on the letter issued by the State Education Department of not supporting the construction of the additional building, she said the letter was just to give an opinion which is a normal process but negotiations and other alternatives are being drawn up to find a solution to the problem.
“Do not worry about the letter, we are still looking into solving the issues that are of concern to the school headmaster and the community,” she said.
Earlier, the media reported of Penang deputy chief Minister II, Dr. P. Ramasamy’s dissatisfaction over the decision by the State Education Department to discontinue the construction of a new building for SJK(T) Sungai Bakap.
Ramasamy was reported to have said the project cannot be abandoned after an allocation has been given by the federal government.
It is learned that the federal government has allocated the school RM3.5 million and a 1.6 hectare-site in 2015 for the construction of a new building.
