GABUNGAN Parti Sarawak (GPS) chief whip in Parliament Fadillah Yusof said he is now uncertain how much is the allocation promised for the repair of over a thousand dilapidated schools in Sarawak.

The Petra Jaya MP said he intends to seek a clarification from Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng on what is the actual amount that had been allocated.

Fadillah said in the 2019 budget, Lim stated RM100 million will be allocated towards the reconstruction of dilapidated schools throughout the country.

Lim said the reconstruction is to be funded “via competitively-tendered public private partnership projects via land currently owned by the Education Ministry”.

Fadillah, however, said that Parliament last year had approved the previous Barisan Nasional government’s proposal to allocate RM2.5 billion in the 2018 budget for the repairs.

The money, Fadillah said, was to be spread over two years – 2018 and 2019.

He said RM500 million was allocated for the repairs of schools in the peninsula while it was RM1 billion each for Sabah dan Sarawak.

“That means if RM500 million had been spent by Sarawak in 2018, there is still an allocation of RM500 million for 2019.

“We now want a clarification (from Lim) if that RM500 million for Sarawak is still available or not,” Fadillah said on the 2019 budget.

The former works minister also thanked Putrajaya for going ahead with the Pan-Borneo Highway project and hoped the cost rationalisation exercise announced by Lim would not compromise the highway’s quality and motorists’ comfort.

The highway was projected to cost RM29 billion.

The highway, Fadillah said, is a “game changer” for the people of Sarawak and Sabah and has to be continued as planned. – November 2, 2018.