Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said as long as Pakatan Harapan remained in government, the funds would continue, even if the economy is challenging.

This month, the Penang government had given money to all the different types of schools not fully-funded by Putrajaya, with RM1.18 million presented today to 22 mission schools.

“The focus this year is to help schools upgrade their facilities like toilets and drainage, which takes up RM375,000 or 31.8% of the funds,” he said at the presentation ceremony in Komtar today.

The rest of the funds will cover maintenance of classrooms, science labs and grounds for sports (RM290,000), structural repairs (RM190,000), rewiring (RM80,000), fencing (RM65,000), building of new school blocks (RM50,000), school equipment (RM25,000) and other needs (RM105,000).

This is the ninth year the state government has given aid to the schools.

Lim pointed out that the budget was tight, given the slow economy and weakening ringgit.

“The goods and services tax (GST), in which schools also have to pay for development projects, has caused businesses to slow down and wage earners having less to spend.

“But we still have money to give out as aid. As long as we are a clean government, we will be able to do it,” he added.

Lim also said the state will waive the assessment rate for kampung, low and low-medium cost home owners this year, and give a 6% discount on the tax for owners of other types of property, including commercial premises.

This will cost the local councils in Penang some RM55 million in revenue this year.

“We are ready to do that. We understand that times are hard,” he said.