Education Secretary Michael Tapo said the department will make a statement on the NCD school infrastructure contracts audit report early next week. Mr Tapo said the report was received last week Friday and was now in possession of the Education Minister Nick Kuman.
An audit was carried out by an independent team announced by former education minister James Marape in January this year, after it was realised that due processes were not being followed in the awarding of the contracts. "There were a lot of verbal agreements between individuals, companies, school boards, principals and NCD education division employees, and not the authorities in charge," Mr Tapo said. The audit team was appointed after the announcement and commenced investigation into contracts awards handed out by unauthorised sources. Mr Tapo said yesterday that the findings of the audit was being studied by Mr Kuman and that a formal report will be prepared and presented to the Cabinet for a decision to be determined. "I can not comment on the directives of the Minister as yet but when he has made a decision he will let me know, maybe early next week," Mr Tapo said. "This department does a great deal of work and it’s not about misfortune, its just the we don’t have the resources. It’s not about us neglecting our duty, it’s about not having the money to pay." The audit report will enable the department to inform the government about the level of commitment that is required for the work, and also to inform on the amount of work that has not been done, he said. The audit covered NCD schools, the library and archives and any other education-related work. Mr Tapo also pleaded with contractors not to lock students out of classrooms but to let the government resolve this issue. Comments are closed.
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