Part of the roofed pedestrian walkway of the school was damaged in the Oct 22 storm.
A SCHOOL in Gelang Patah is seeking public donation to fix the roof of its pedestrian walkway and sports room which were damaged in a storm.
SJK(T) Gelang Patah Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) chairman J. Thilagaraja said the walkway roof, measuring about 500m in length, and the sports room were damaged following heavy rain and winds that hit the area on Oct 22.
“Thankfully no one was injured during the incident but the school suffered losses of about RM60,000 due to the damage,” he said.
“The walkway roof provides shelter for pupils and teachers when walking to the school building from the entrance.
“Also damaged was the roof of a sports room and its front door. We are currently looking for funds to fix the damage.”
Following the incident, Thilagaraja said several PTA members came together to remove the fallen structures.
“We managed to rent a lorry and tractor on the day of the storm to remove the damaged parts.
“This was to avoid having safety hazards as pupils and teachers would have returned to school the next day,” he said.
“PTA members donated RM1,000 to clear up the area following the incident.
“Now that the first phase, the clearing-up work, has been completed, we are looking into rebuilding the roof.
“We will need to collect about RM60,000 to carry out the necessary works.
“We hope that the public, including teachers and parents, can donate to the PTA so that the necessary work can be carried out as soon as possible,” said Thilagaraja.
He added that Johor tourism, environment, heritage and culture committee chairman K. Raven Kumar, Iskandar Puteri MP Liew Chin Tong and Kota Iskandar assemblyman Datuk Pandak Ahmad had visited the school.
“They expressed their willingness to contribute some funds to help the school and they urged us to write official letters for the allocation,” he said.
“We will do the necessary and hope that they will also assist us in getting the damaged structures fixed for the safety and comfort of the school’s pupils, teachers and staff.”
