DECEMBER 16 — I am writing as a concerned parent with two children at SJK (C) Puay Chai 2, Bandar Utama.

Recently, at a meeting with the Selangor Education Department, chaired by its Deputy Director, Shahshim Shah Harun and attended by nine ministry officials, the project manager involved with the construction of the controversial RM2.1 million Teo Soo Cheng sports arena was reprimanded for failing to apply for certain approvals.

As a result of their failure, Shashim said that they now have to apply for a whitening programme of the (or ‘proses pemutihan’) sports arena before it can be utilised by the children; however, based on my knowledge, children are already playing in the sports arena.

With the school term about to start, I strongly urge the Ministry to once again instruct the headmistress not to compromise on children’s safety. The sports arena has to be cordoned off properly.

We may not understand all the circumstances involved, but as parents, we want the Board of Governors, the Headmistress and the Parent-Teacher Association (PIBG) to be more upfront with the truth and be fully responsible to safeguard the interest of 2,400 children.

We did not learn about the whitening process. This is the latest information that we learnt from the education department, after we last learnt that safety rules had indeed been flouted, which led to an immediate two-day stop work order after a team from the Selangor Department of Occupational Safety and Health (Dosh) investigated the construction site after parents expressed alarm over the safety and health of their children.

During the construction of the sports arena, piling, welding and steel structure work was being carried out during school hours. We would have expected the school authorities and the Ministry of Education (MOE) to take more precautions to ensure the safety of 2,400 children, but despite complaints raised with the Selangor Education Department, complainants did not receive any response from the ministry.

Subsequently, this was followed with another two-week stop work order slapped by the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Malaysia.

As parents, are only concerned about the safety of the children, besides making sure that our contributions to the school’s Parent Teacher Association (PIBG) fund is utilised for PIBG-related activities.  

We are not interested in how the original plan of building a simple covered basketball court costing RM1 million, now, has become RM2.1 million, but that the building is safe for our children, and our contributions to the Parent-Teacher Association (PIBG) are only used for PIBG-related activities, not to pay for the cost of the construction.

Parents who attended the meeting with Shashim have taken note that Shashim had also instructed the Board of Governors to look for their own sources of funding, instead of using the PIBG money for the construction of the building.

* Stephen Ng is a PIBG member of SJK (C) Puay Chai 2, Bandar Utama.

** This is the personal opinion of the writer or organisation and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.