The parents of the students of Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SJKC) Kulai 2 in Indraputra, Kulai demanding to know as to when their RM21.25 million school building be ready after months of agonising wait and speculation.
According to the project signboard which stated that the school building is scheduled to complete by October last year.
The ninety percent completed school building shows no sign of the building to be completed anytime soon.
The chairperson of the SJKC Kulai 1 and 2, Cheng Shiaw Swie said that some time ago a new project signboard was put to replaced the initial signboard but with the date of completion changed to October this year.
Just several days ago, it was again taken down and now we don’t really know when the building is ever going to be completed, he said.
Late last year, the Deputy Minister of Education, Dr. Wee Ka Siong visited the site and commented that the school building should be ready by the middle of this year.
But since then, the isn’t much construction activities going on as we know the electrical wiring system for the whole building is still not in place yet and we really don’t know when exactly the building is going to be completed, said Cheng.
He said that the school board and the parents have been waiting for a school building for forty years and all these years the students and teachers have been sharing the same school premises with SJKC Kulai 1.
For forty years the one thousand five hundred students of SJKC 2 have been forced to share the school premises which have not been condusive for both the students and teachers.
Cheng also commented on the poor quality of the construction works especially on the walls and the beam structures.
He hoped that all the construction works are in full compliance with the stipulated safety standards to prevent any untoward incidences befalling on the students in future.
Meanwhile, the chairperson of the Senai state constituency Villages Co-ordination Committee, Tay Chin Hein said that to-date the government has paid out 77.4% of the total contract cost to the contractor.
So the question of the delays were due to payment issue does not arise and it is the contractor who has appeal to the Education Ministry for an extension period to complete the project, he said.
But the Education Ministry only allows a 42 days extension from the scheduled date of completion which is up-to November last year.
He added that he has sent a memorandum to the Mentri Besar, Ghani Othman to seek his attention in getting the project completed as soon as possible.
After a series of site visit by prominent leaders including the Deputy Education Minister who promptly urged the contractor to expedite the work progress by increasing more manpower but it was to no avail.
Tay said, he hoped the relevant authority will take immediate actions against the contractor so as not to deprive the students and teachers of SJKC Kulai 2 of a better and more conducive learning and teaching environment any further.