All govt schools to receive RM70,000 each for repairs

All government schools in Johor will receive RM70,000 each for maintenance and upgrades.

State education, information and communication committee chairman Norliza Noh said the money would go to 878 government schools to conduct maintenance works and upgrade toilets.

“The ministry channelled a special allocation to the Johor Education Department amounting to more than RM33mil for 475 schools.”

She added that Johor Development Office had also received RM28.2mil for upgrades to 403 schools implemented under the purview of the respective district offices.

Norliza said this in her reply to Azizul Bachok (BN-Tiram) during the Johor State Assembly sitting at Bangunan Sultan Ismail in Iskandar Puteri.

Azizul had asked how allocations for toilet repairs were being distributed and the implementation status in schools within his constituency.

Norliza said for Tiram constituency, about 20 schools had received RM1.4mil from the state development office and the district office was to carry out upgrades and maintenance.

Johor Education Department and Johor Development Office were regularly monitoring maintenance and upgrade works in those schools which were expected to be completed in November, she said.

Johor health and unity committee chairman Ling Tian Soon meanwhile said the state government was looking to resolve the issue of insufficient parking at Hospital Sultanah Aminah (HSA) in Johor Baru.

He said the issue was among matters raised by Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi when he visited HSA on Aug 28.

Ling said Onn Hafiz had obtained approval from a developer to use an open space facing the hospital for parking.

“The open area is also close to a pedestrian bridge that would enable visitors to cross the road safely.”

He said this would be a temporary solution until proposed projects such as the construction of multi-storey parking could be implemented.

Ling said this in reply to Liew Chin Tong (PH-Perling) who asked about efforts to overcome the parking shortage at HSA.

Ling also expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for the approval of RM500mil for the HSA infrastructure upgrade project, inclusive of the construction of a multi-storey carpark.

“The Johor Public Transport Corporation (PAJ) has also been providing a free shuttle bus service from Larkin Sentral to HSA since October 2022,” he said.

On other hospital-related initiatives, Ling said the implementation of the e-Temujanji system at HSA polyclinic eliminated the need for new patients to turn up at the clinic to arrange their first appointments.

“This is in addition to the provision of a ‘web-based’ iQMS system where patients can check queue numbers using their mobile devices as well as the implementation of the Madani medical scheme.”