Management of Public Funds – Page 48

KLANG, 11 Nov: The State Government will proceed with the construction of a third bridge to overcome congestion in Klang if the Federal Government failes to do so next year, said Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

According to Abdul Khalid, the State Government will use the Selangor-owned reserves to implement the project which had been promised by the Umno-BN Government previously.

He said, during the reign of the former Umno-BN Government, they promise the people of Klang to build the bridge, they had even placed the foundation for the bridge construction.

However, he added, it now is just seen as an empty talk.

“The people of Selangor are the largest contributor to Malaysia. Therefore, next year we will be holding a variety of programs for people in this state. The people of Selangor is the largest contributor to the national economy, now is time to return the yields to the people.”

“Next year, if the third bridge is still not built in Klang, we will build it using state reserves. That way we can implement equitable development in Selangor,” he said while attending the Deepavali Celebrations at Jalan Tengku Kelana, this evening.

Before this, the Central Government had promised a third bridge in Klang worth RM230 million to benefit the community in the area.

The construction of the bridge which began in 2007, has however, still yet to be completed till now by the appointed contractor who is taking his time.

PETALING JAYA, NOV 10: The State Government has proposed to build three more Tadika Rakyats in Serendah, Kampar and Dengkil to facilitate children from low income families to receive preschool education.

The constructions of these kindergartens are the continuation of the two existing kindergartens in Taman Sentosa, Klang and Kampung Lindungan in Petaling Jaya.

Hence, Health, Plantation Workers, Poverty and Caring Government Exco, Dr. Xavier Jayakumar, welcomed parents who cannot afford preschool education to send their children to these kindergartens.

“This kindergarten is open to all races. Therefore, people in this area, do not miss the chance to register your children.”

“In addition to the low fees, children will also be exposed to early childhood education,” he added.

He said, pre-school education is the first step to prepare children before the commencement of
statutory education.

“Based on research, there are still 30 percent of children who are not enrolled in any preschool because they cannot afford the monthly fee.”

As a result, many children are left behind in terms of education like not knowing how to write, count or read.

This causes them to fall behind their peers when they eventually enter primary school and this causes serious problems in the long term.

“Lack of exposure to education in the early stages is among the factors that contribute to social problems,” he said during the Tadika Rakyat Kampung Lindungan launching ceremony here, early this morning.

The Tadika Rakyat at Kampung Lindungan is the second branch that has been built by the State Government along with the non-governmental organization (NGO), Child Information, Learning and Development Centre (Child).

The kindergarten is reserved for families earning below RM 1,500.

In addition to providing comfortable learning, students are only charged as low as RM 20 per month.

The kindergarten costing about RM 460,000 has been equipped with eight classes and is able to accommodate about 20 students per class.

The State Government has provided RM 50,000 for each of the kindergartens.

Also present was Local Government, Research and Development Exco, Ronnie Liu, Seri Setia assemblyman Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, Taman Medan assemblyman, Haniza Talha, Kelana Jaya MP, Gwo Burne Loh and Deputy Mayor of Petaling Jaya, Puasa Md Taib.