KUALA LUMPUR: Tenders for upgrading 40 national type Tamil schools will be awarded next month. 

The projects under the Public Works Department would begin in July, Works Minister Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamed announced yesterday.

A sum of RM41.5 million had been allocated for these projects under the Ninth Malaysia Plan. 

He said 25 projects would be awarded to contractors of Class D, 10 to Class F, three to Class E and one each to Class B and C. Of these projects, 31 involved the construction of new blocks and the rest were for upgrading.

Traffic jams are expected to be a daily occurrence - right up until early next month, if the Met eorological Services Department's weather forecast is accurate.

Worse still, it appears that not much can be done to alleviate the problem, the authorities admitted to The Malay Mail yesterday.

Walaupun pembinaan terowong SMART dikatakan mampu meneyelesaikan masalah banjir kilat di Kuala Lumpur, tetapi hujan yang turun dengan lebat sejak dua hari kebelakangan ini tetap mendatangkan masalah kepada ribuan warga kota di sekitar Kuala lumpur dan Selangor.

Keadaan banjir bukan sahaja berlaku di kampung, malah juga di jalan utama, dan tempat letak kereta. Dengan keadaan hujan yang hanya turun dua hingga tiga jam, ia sudah cukup untuk menimbulkan pelbagai masalah yang menggangu aktiviti harian penduduk.

MELAKA: Kerajaan Pusat bersetuju memperuntukkan sebanyak RM 3.3 bilion bagi membantu kerajaan negeri membina lebuh raya baru selain menaik taraf beberapa jalan raya di seluruh Melaka sepanjang baki dua tahun  Rancangan Malaysia kesembilan (RMK-9).

Menteri Kerja raya, Datuk Mohd Zin  Mohamed, berkata peruntukkan itu dipersetujui selepas kajian separuh penggal RMK-9 adalah bagi membiayai projek pembinaan lebuh raya dan jalan raya empat lorong yang jumlah keseluruhannya sepanjang 439 kilometer.

MARANG: Bumbung Dewan Besar Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Wakaf Tapai di sini yang dibina tiga tahun lalu, runtuh tiba-tiba kira-kira jam 8.30 malam kelmarin walaupun ketika itu tidak ada hujan atau angin kuat. 

Timbalan Menteri Pelajaran, Datuk Razali Ismail, berkata dewan yang mampu menampung kira-kira 500 pelajar pada satu-satu masa itu dipercayai roboh akibat kekuda sendi yang menampung bahagian bumbung itu tidak kukuh. 

Dewan dan sekolah berkenaan yang memiliki 20 kelas dengan 547 pelajar siap pembinaannya dan mula dibuka pada 2005. 

MARANG 12 April - Seluruh bumbung bangunan dewan Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Wakaf Tapai dekat sini, yang kos pembinaan keseluruhan berharga RM2 juta runtuh secara tiba-tiba dalam kejadian yang berlaku kira-kira pukul 8.30 malam tadi.

Kejadian tersebut dipercayai berlaku apabila kekuda kayu yang menyokong bumbung bangunan yang siap dan digunakan akhir tahun 2005 itu tidak mampu bertahan menyebabkan keseluruhan bumbung runtuh.

Bagaimanapun, struktur bangunan Dewan Saidina Abu Bakar termasuk dinding dan lantai tidak mengalami sebarang kerosakan.

The Government has finalized costings for the Second Penang bridge setting the figure at RM4.3 billion.

Business Times learnt that the matter was finalized at a meeting held yesterday between the Finance Ministry, UEM Builders Bhd and China Harbour Engineering Co Ltd (CHEC)

"The RM4.3 billion price was given by the Government and both parties will now have to adhere to it although each had presented higher costings," a source said.

MARANG: When a booming sound was heard at SMK Wakaf Tapai on Friday night, head master Roslan Awang thought it was a pane flying low.

About 90 minutes later he learned that the roof of the school?s RM2 million hall had collapsed.

No one was hurt as Roslan and some 60 of his students were at the school surau when the roof collapsed at 8.30pm.

"We were at the surau when we heard the sound," he said yesterday.

He had accompanied Deputy Education Minister Datuk Razali and state Education director Ariffin Embong who visited the site.

KUALA TERENGGANU: Semua dewan sekolah di Terengganu yang dibina di bawah Rancangan Malaysia Kelapan (RMK-8) akan ditutup selama sebulan bermula hari ini untuk pemeriksaan keselamatan bagi memastikan kejadian bumbung runtuh di Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Wakaf Tapai, Jumaat lalu tidak berulang. 

<P>On Friday, Bandar Mahkota Cheras residents will know if their wishes would come true if the Selangor state government orders the opening of the Bandar Mahkota Cheras access road that was blocked in 2005.</P>
<P>This would depend on the outcome of a meeting between the Bandar Mahkota Cheras Open Access Road Committee, the Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj), the Malaysia Highway Authority (MHA) and developer Narajaya Sdn. Bhd.</P>