The management of Huonville Primary School in Lae is calling on the Morobe provincial administration to take ownership of the incomplete building that was worth K500,000.
The provincial works division awarded the half-a-million Kina project to a former politician’s son in 2019. Despite receiving the funding, iron rods sticking out of the ground are the only evidence of attempts at construction.
The opening of Huonville Primary School’s state-of-the-art, 8-in-1 double-storey building shone a harsh light on the construction site right next to the new infrastructure.
Head teacher, Dairi Baru, said two schools were allocated K500,00 each in 2019; Busu Secondary School and Huonville. While Busu’s portion was directed into their account, money allocated for Huonville was held back by the provincial works division.
“They engaged their own contractor and they used the money,” he said. “Had they given it to us, we could’ve built that classroom ourselves. We have our own contractor.”
The head teacher said if a portion of the K500,000 is still there, he is appealing for it to be released to the school so they can continue with construction.
Huonville primary currently has K420,000 in its account from project fees. Their target amount to build another set of classrooms is K500,000.
The contractor, on the other hand, said they were given a stop work order in 2020 and since then, have not been advised to resume work, claiming they are still waiting for a response to a letter that was sent to Huonville in February this year.
The contractor was paid 70 percent of the K500,000, which is K350,000.
Drainage was not captured in the initial scope of work, hence after the board of management intervened, K50,000 was approved as the variation cost.
The contractor said they were about to recommence with drainage works when the school intervened again.
In response, head teacher Baru said some members of the board, who were certified engineers, voiced their concerns about the quality of work.
Baru stated that his board is vigilant, and all their decisions are for the wellbeing of their students and teachers.
(Grade Three students in their makeshift classroom that was built in 2018 when 24 classrooms were condemned by the building board)