THE new two-storey ‘Sekolah Suria’ is set to operate in June this year.
Sekolah Suria, a school for children with special needs, was the fruit of a smart collaboration between the Penang government and property developer Ideal Property Group.
Built to cater some 180 special children aged 18 and below, the school was developed by Ideal Property Group as part of its corporate social responsibility effort.
The 1.37-acre school land was contributed by the state government back in 2013.
The groundbreaking ceremony was held on March 31, 2018 and the construction works were completed within two years.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the state government constantly prioritises the people.
“We welcome smart partnership between the public and private sector which could benefit the people,” Chow said.
He said that the state also focused on promoting education.
“We have a mechanism which requires a developer to allocate a plot of land for educational purposes if it builds more than 1,280 development units.
“The developer can choose to allocate a plot of land or to contribute a certain amount of financial contribution based on the value of the purported land,” Chow told a press conference after attending the handover ceremony of Sekolah Suria to Penang Welfare Association for Mentally Retarded Children in Bayan Lepas today.
Chow mentioned that the state was keen on working with the private sector (developer or landowner) to build a new national-type primary school in Alma, Bukit Mertajam.
“The Federal Government has approved the building of the school, to be named as SJK (C) Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu, and it is now the state’s responsibility to find a piece of land to build the school,” he said.
It was reported that the cost to build the school would be borne by the Education Ministry.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, in his speech, said he was delighted to witness the ceremony.
He thanked Ideal for contributing towards the building of Sekolah Suria and the sponsors for their contribution towards the set-up of the school.
“Let’s work together and do what we can for the benefit of our chuldren,” he said.
Also present were Ideal executive chairman Tan Sri Alex Ooi Kee Liang, Ideal executive director Datuk Joanne Phor, Penang Welfare Association for Mentally Retarded Children president Datuk Teh Cheng-Lim, Penang Welfare Association for the Mentally Retarded Children vice-president Datuk Seri Wong Siew Hai, Senator Lim Hui Ying, state executive council members and state assemblymen.
Story by Edmund Lee
Pix by Adleena Rahayu Ahmad Radzi
Video by Alissala Thian