THE Human Resources Ministry has proposed setting the instalment repayment of the Skills Development Fund Corporation (PTPK) loan at RM100 per month, said its minister M. Kulasegaran.

He said this was to address the issue of loan financing as well as giving the opportunity for more students to pursue studies at accredited public and private Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) centres nationwide.

He said that, as of now, almost 120,000 out of the 400,000 borrowers had not repaid their loans causing his ministry problems in giving out new financing.

“We try to enforce strictly to get back this money and once we get this money the government has no need to give us yearly contributions.

“I also met (Prime Minister) Dr Mahathir to get a letter to write to all the students that they have to pay RM100 a month until they have settled their loans,” he told reporters in Lumut after opening a hall at the Sabah Sri Ramar Thevalaya Paripalana temple at the Royal Malaysian Naval Base, today.

Kulasegaran said that the loan repayment should begin six months after graduation, but if the borrowers had no income because they had not found work then they could appeal to hold off repayment.

“We understand their situation. Most of them are young people and come from poor families so we allow a flexibility. If they are not working, they can come to the PTPK office and make a repayment postponement,” he said.

Kulasegaran said that until the third quarter of this year, the ministry had issued RM105 million in funding to TVET students nationwide.

In another development, he said the ministry was conducting a study including investigating the employer whether there was any violation of occupational safety following the landslide incident at Bukit Kukus Twin Road in Penang.

He said the ministry would also investigate how the employer could allow workers to stay at the location of the incident causing them to be buried alive.

“Currently, the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) and three officers of the Manpower Department are already at the scene to conduct investigations,” he said.

So far, four people have been confirmed dead, while eight are still missing following the landslide at the project site at around 2pm yesterday. – Bernama, October 20, 2018.