The Papua New Guinea University of Technology (Unitech) in Lae maybe forced to close school early if monthly grants from the Government are not received on time.
Funds from the Government have been inconsistent and the school’s management is now calling on the government to address this so that the academic year can be completed without disruption.
Government funding to the school this year has been inconsistent, according to Dr. Ora Renagi.
“It is creating a backlog of debts that we have with our service providers, and is putting us in a very critical situation right now,” Dr. Ora Renagi, Acting Vice Chancellor.
The government allocated K47,317,900 to Unitech this year, so far only K26,269, 173 has been received. There is now an outstanding of K21,117,727.
The University management said drastic changes to the academic year would have to be made if funds for the remaining months are not received on time.
“if the government can pay us our dues than we can successfully complete the semester, ” Dr Renagi told EMTV News.
Because of this issue, payments to service providers for the past several months have been delayed and continue to accumulate.
“if the grants are paid on time than we are well capable of managing those funds so that the service providers are paid on time,” Dr. Kaul Gena, Pro vice Chancellor
They are now appealing to the government to address this to ensure the academic year is completed without disruptions.
“We’d like to request the government of the day to fully honour the budget appropriation of 2017,” Dr. Gena said.
