According to the reports, 14 dilapidated schools in Johor were given allocations for repairs but not one of them had been repaired over the past three years.

Johor menteri besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi, who revealed this in his winding-up speech in the state assembly last week, said they were among 19 schools which had been placed in the “dilapidated” category.

In a Facebook post, Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi said the delivery system for these allocations should be reevaluated.

“It would be better to simply hand over the allocation to the state government for the implementation of such projects. End bureaucracy in the education ministry,” the Rengit assemblyman added.

Puad, who is the state assembly speaker for Johor, said there had been “silence” from the education ministry on the matter, and a lack of transparency.

He said the ministry had once returned RM800 million to the federal government because it was not spent.

“However, when rural schools requested budget allocations, the response they received was that there were no funds available.”

The former deputy education minister suggested that officials from all levels of the ministry conduct “surprise” visits to dilapidated schools more frequently, to witness the state of such schools for themselves.