KOTA KINABALU – Sabah and Sarawak Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili is wasting time on petty matters instead of resolving much more pressing issues like dilapidated schools in Sabah, said Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) leaders.
Former state assistant education and innovation minister Jennifer Lasimbang said Ongkili is focusing too much on the 17 points in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and they appear to be the only political lifeline that Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) has now.
“Ongkili (who is also PBS president) should not waste any more time talking about the 17 points, but move on quickly to solve more pressing issues in Sabah.
“Start delivering what Sabah and Sarawak are entitled to, particularly (concerning) the sorry conditions of our schools that desperately require better facilities, utilities, modern teaching aids, internet connectivity and liveable hostel environments,” she said in a statement today.
The former consultant to Unicef Malaysia and UN Development Programme (UNDP) also said that during her two-year stint as the State Assistant Minister, her fact-finding missions all over the state unearthed shocking revelation where almost half of the schools in Sabah are categorised as ‘daif’ (dilapidated).
“Out of the 1,296 schools in Sabah, 589 are classified as ‘daif’, with our schoolchildren having to use water from the wells; rusted roofing causing water leakages when it rains; children having to endure hot (weather) because of non-functioning fans; and, worst of all, having to sleep on the floors without beds in inhabitable hostels.
“Based on my decade-long experience with Unicef and UNDP, I would readily attest that the sorry condition of our schools denotes lack of enthusiasm and vigour on the parts of both our state and federal governments in the past,” she said.
Lasimbang said Sabahans will forever be indebted to former chief minister and Warisan president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, who immediately established the Education and Innovation Ministry once Warisan Plus came into power in 2018; securing RM100 million in allocations in 2019 to repair 24 dilapidated schools, and RM445 million to repair 61 schools in 2020.
“Ongkili should stop bragging about the 17 Points of MA63 and start thinking how to reduce Kota Marudu’s 46% poverty rate, which is the third-highest in Malaysia and also to. – The Vibes, April 17, 2021
