School pleads for power boost

Malalaua High School is in dire need of a big standby generator to power the whole school.

That’s  because students and the teaching staff have been surviving on rationed electricity since last year because the current generator  is experiencing technical problems.

This means the students are given only 2 hours of night study each night and teachers also get two hours to prepare lessons for the next day which is inconvenient in providing quality education.

This problem has been raised with the Kerema Open Member Richard Mendani and the Malalaua District Office but nothing has happened.

Mr Mendani was questioned  last month when he visited the school,  by students pleading with him to give them a new generator and also complete the male dormitory which was left half completed  by contractors.

There were rumours of mismanagement of K5 million earmarked for the construction of 2 double storey dormitories with ablutions block and a double classroom.

Mr Mendani who welcomed the concern raised by the male students was unable to give a definite assurance but said he was aware of the situation.

Mr Mendani said money was not an issue but how it was spent raised a lot of questions  because money allocated each year for development projects had  been misused by government officers and this had been an issue in Kerema for far too long.

A senior teacher appealed to the Member to help them by following up with the provincial government on when the second phase of their money will be released for the project.