MIRI: Mounting concerns over deteriorating school facilities here have prompted direct intervention by the constituency’s Member of Parliament, Chiew Choon Man, with RM100,000 allocated to SMK Lutong following repeated inspections that exposed maintenance shortcomings.
The funding, channelled to the school’s Parent-Teacher Association on January 2, comes after a series of site visits revealed ageing infrastructure and facilities in need of urgent attention.
The money will be used for repair works, the purchase of essential assets and the installation of closed-circuit television cameras to improve security on school grounds.
Chiew, who is also Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, said the condition of school infrastructure could no longer be treated as a secondary issue, stressing that delays directly affect the safety and wellbeing of students and teachers.
He urged the Education Department to cut through bureaucratic procedures that often slow down maintenance work in public schools.
“Repairs and upgrades must not be held hostage by red tape. When facilities are unsafe or failing, action needs to be immediate and effective,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.
The MP acknowledged complaints raised by parents over worn-out classrooms, describing them as legitimate and reflective of deeper, systemic maintenance gaps that require faster decision-making and execution.
As part of follow-up action, a team from the Miri Parliamentary Service Centre carried out another on-site assessment at SMK Lutong on Tuesday morning.
The visit was aimed at verifying the current condition of facilities and identifying any additional requirements to ensure the repair works are comprehensive, not cosmetic.
The intervention highlights growing frustration among parents and educators over the state of public school infrastructure, with concerns that essential maintenance is too often delayed by administrative processes rather than a lack of funding.
