Fadhlina pledges no SJKT closures as RM12.6m Sungai Bakap Tamil school project gets going after 17 years

NIBONG TEBAL, Sept 6 — The government has assured that no Tamil vernacular school will be closed as construction finally begins on a RM12.6 million replacement building for SJKT Sungai Bakap after nearly 17 years of delays.

Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said the Madani Government would instead continue to focus on the development and maintenance of all SJKT, as well as programmes to strengthen teachers and pupils.

She said the assurance was necessary as there were still perceptions in the community that some SJKT could be shut down.

“We give an assurance that, under the Madani Government, no SJKT will be closed.

“Instead, we will focus on all schools in terms of development, maintenance and programmes related to strengthening teachers and pupils,” she said.

Fadhlina was speaking to reporters after witnessing the groundbreaking and handover of the letter of acceptance for the new SJKT Sungai Bakap building here today.

The RM12.6 million project, to be carried out by Yayasan Didik Negara and monitored by the Penang Education Department, is expected to be completed within 56 weeks.

The new school will be built at a site about 2km from the existing location and will comprise six classrooms, special-purpose rooms and other facilities.

Fadhlina, who is also Nibong Tebal MP, said the new building was important in providing better and more comprehensive educational facilities for children in the Sungai Bakap area.

She also apologised to parents, pupils and teachers for the long wait before the project could finally be realised.

The project had been delayed since 2009 due to implementation issues, financial constraints and legal disputes, according to Bernama.

Penang special committee chairman for Tamil schools Datuk Seri S. Sundarajoo said the existing school building, which houses more than 100 pupils, was in a dilapidated condition.

He said the project had previously faced issues involving land, contractor delays and court proceedings before these were resolved.

Sundarajoo, who is also the state housing and environment executive councillor, said the state government was targeting the construction of three SJKT buildings this year.

He said SJKT Sungai Bakap was the second to be developed, while work on SJKT Juru was expected to begin before the end of the year.