RM175mil polytechnic opens | The Star

THE long-delayed Politeknik Bagan Datuk, which cost RM175mil to build, opens this month.

Public Works Department (JKR) deputy director-general (building sector) Badioezaman Ab Khalik said construction of the polytechnic on a 12.14ha site began on Nov 3, 2017, and was completed in early October last year.

“Since the project began, contractors and JKR were plagued by various problems.

“Despite a slight deviation from the date, we managed to complete the project,” he said at the polytechnic’s handover ceremony in Bagan Datuk, Perak.

Badioezaman’s speech was read out by JKR Special Project Team 1 construction director Suzanna Punari.

Also present were Higher Education Ministry deputy divsion secretary (Development) Dr Fary Akmal Osman and Higher Education Ministry’s Polytechnic and Community College Education Department deputy director-general (Planning) Muhamad Rumzi Mamat.

According to Badioezaman, the campus that is equipped with administrative buildings, workshops, laboratories, lecture theatres, dormitories and libraries, is expected to accommodate some 1,200 students pursuing studies in maritime technology.

“This polytechnic offers a diploma programme in naval shipbuilding and will offer two new diploma programmes in 2024, which are naval architectural technology and naval electrical engineering,” he said, as reported by BK.

The first cohort for the shipbuilding diploma offered by the polytechnic began their studies in June 2017 at the temporary campus in Medan Niaga Lagenda in Hutan Melintang, Perak.

Badioezaman hopes the new polytechnic will add value to the field of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in the country.

“I also hope that the campus will play a vital role in producing an efficient and skilled workforce,” he said.