Noting the Sabah state government’s plan to distribute 10,000 laptops from July 19 to Oct 18, Rahman pointed out that education minister Radzi Jidin yesterday said that 12,887 laptops had been distributed to students from B40 households, with another 40,290 units to be delivered by June 12.

“The remaining 96,823 laptops will be distributed in September 2021. Why can’t the Sabah state government wait a month?,” Rahman asked in a Facebook post.

“What is the need for the state government to buy 10,000 laptops at a cost of RM15 million when the federal government will supply 150,000 laptops to students nationwide, including in Sabah?”

The former federal minister said the RM15 million could be spent elsewhere, especially for those in need, including small traders and villagers, during the current nationwide lockdown.

Putrajaya had previously pledged 150,000 laptops and tablets under the CERDIK initiative announced in the 2021 budget.

The funds for the laptops were to be provided by GLCs and channelled through Yayasan Hasanah, the government-appointed secretariat of the CERDIK initiative.

On April 25, the foundation was reported as saying that 13,000 laptops had already been distributed to state education departments, with 47,000 more to be delivered by the end of May.

The initiative’s corporate donors include Khazanah Nasional Bhd, Yayasan Petronas, Permodalan Nasional Bhd, the Employees Provident Fund and Lembaga Tabung Haji.