The government has approved RM78 million to repair dilapidated schools in Sabah, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng announced today.

He said 35 schools in the state would benefit from the allocation.

"In the 2019 Budget, RM10 million was allocated for Sabah (to repair dilapidated schools) and channelled to 79 schools for minor repair works. This is not enough.

"The Chief Minister (Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal) has asked the Finance Ministry for help. The Prime Minister (Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad) was also concerned about it and instructed the ministry to look for funding.

"With concern from these two leaders, we managed to allocate RM78 million to repair, replace, and rebuilding works on existing schools," he told reporters after the Budget Dialogue here, today.

In monitoring repair works on dilapidated schools, Lim said the government has come up with a new formula that would involved cooperation between the Finance Ministry, Education Ministry, Works Ministry and the Sabah state government.

Lim noted that active involvement of the state government was important to ensure that repair works were being conducted accordingly.

He added that the dialogue today was a good platform for the ministry to obtain input from the various sectors in Sabah.

"Personally, I'm committed to the Pakatan Harapan manifesto. I, for instance want to see Sabah and Sarawak get what they deserve.

"But how can we do it now when we don't have the capacity? How can we talk about sharing prosperity when there's no prosperity to share," he said.

Meanwhile, Shafie thanked the Finance Ministry for approving the allocation for dilapidated schools.

"This will definitely help us to provide better infrastructure to 30 schools and improve the necessary facilities for rural schoolchildren.

"I'm sure with the budget dialogue we are having with the central government, the voices of Sabahan people especially their involvement in business will be heard,” he added.