THE Sarawak and federal governments have resolved their disagreement over the delays in repairing schools in the state, said Sarawak Education, Science and Technological Research Minister Michael Manyin today.

According to Manyin, Kuching wanted to move forward and avoid pointing fingers.

Noting that the two governments had built very close relations, Manyin also praised Education Minister Maszlee Malik and officials from the Finance Ministry and Education Ministry for their co-operation.

“Since Maszlee became the minister, I have met him four or five times. In other words, our relationship with the Education Ministry is excellent,” he told a media conference after chairing a meeting on the Worldskills Malaysia Sarawak competition in Kuching.

Manyin had been reported as saying earlier that the state government had previously offered to lend RM1 billion to Putrajaya to help kick-start the repairs but then prime minister Najib Razak had rejected it and instead allocated RM1 billion each to Sabah and Sarawak.

However, Manyin said the deal was not honoured after the change of government in the 14th general election.

He said Sarawak had identified 1,002 schools in various degrees of disrepair, of which 415 are critical, and had proposed 36 to be refurbished this year.

Manyin said the state government learnt of the problem during a briefing by the state Education Department after he was appointed as minister in May 2017.

He said the first school to be upgraded is Sekolah Kerajaan (SK) Sungai Tisang in Bintulu, with Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg scheduled to officiate its ground-breaking ceremony on September 11.

The upgrade would involve the replacement of a two-storey block with a four-storey building, he said, adding that repairs on another five schools would commence once contracts had been awarded. – Bernama, September 6, 2019