Senate news in brief: Oct 12

269 SCHOOL UPGRADING PROJECTS IN SABAH APPROVED

KUALA LUMPUR -- A total of 269 projects to upgrade and redevelop dilapidated schools in Sabah were approved during the 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP) and Rolling Plan 1 of the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP), at a total cost of RM1.735 billion.

Deputy Education Minister I Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon during a question and answer session at the Dewan Negara today said as of Sept 30, 153 projects had been completed, while 58 were still under construction and the remaining 58 projects were in the pre-construction phase.

"Besides that, in 2021, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has allocated a total of RM72.76 million for the implementation of 585 school maintenance projects throughout Sabah," he said in response to Senator Datuk John Ambrose's question on the development of poor schools, especially in Sabah.

-- BERNAMA

NO PLANS TO RELOCATE ZOO NEGARA

KUALA LUMPUR -- The government currently has no plans to relocate Zoo Negara to another area, the Senate was told today.

Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Datuk Ali Biju said Zoo Negara was a non-governmental organisation (NGO) and would involve consultation with many other parties.

"This is the position we have taken so far," he said in response to a supplementary question from Senator Datuk Juhanis Abd Aziz who wanted to know if the government had plans for the zoo to be relocated to a more suitable location.

-- BERNAMA

OVER 430,000 ENTREPRENEURS HAVE PARTICIPATED IN MDEC’S eUSAHAWAN PROGRAMME

KUALA LUMPUR -- More than 430,000 entrepreneurs have participated in the eUsahawan programme implemented by the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) from 2015 to last August, and 150,000 of them have reported sales in excess of RM900 million, the Dewan Negara was told.

Deputy Minister of Communications and Multimedia Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin said during the emergency period from January to August this year, more than 20,000 entrepreneurs had been trained through the programme and managed to report sales in excess of RM5 million.

He was responding to a question from Senator Datuk A. Kesavadas on the ministry's efforts to assist small entrepreneurs nationwide during the emergency period in terms of digital empowerment.

-- BERNAMA