The officer who has acted asthe middleman betweenthe contractors andthe education departmentohas made his intentions known to file a lawsuit for defamation.
His actions come after Acting Education Minister James Marape accused him of enteringthe state into commitments unbudgeted for.
Michael Phasa, Director for EducationInfrastructure program promised to fight till he clears his name.
Michael Phasa was bluntly told yesterday bythe Finance Minister and Acting Education Minister, James Marape, that he would be investigated for committingthe state to unbudgeted programs.
Today Mr. Phasa made his intentions known to file a lawsuit for defamation.
He said he welcomed Mr. Marape’s announcement ofthe investigation and said all contracts he entered into on behalf ofthe department were done legally and he had all papers in place to substantiate his claims.
He saidthe contracts he entered into on behalf ofthe department would be funded throughthe PublicInfrastructure Program underthe development budget and it wasn’t a one off payment kind of project. It was to be paid over five years.
He also announced thatthe contractors are taking this matter to court to seek payment for their services.
Mr. Phasa said if contractors are not paidtheir monies, he will not releasethe keys to 10 teachers’ houses and 5 six by one classroom buildings in different schools withinthe city.
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