By PETER KORUGL
ANGRY students attacked some members of the University of Technology’s governing council as they were leaving the campus in Lae after an emergency meeting on Sunday afternoon.
The students, who had been boycotting classes since Friday, dragged the council members out of a bus and assaulted them.
Chancellor Philip Stagg was believed to be among those attacked.
The students became angry when the council members did not remain to brief them on the outcome of the meeting.
Yesterday, many students also waited for the council members to address them but no one turned up.
The National was unable to contact Mr Stagg, Vice-Chancellor Misty Baloiloi or any of the other governing council members.
It is understood that the governing council agreed at the meeting to increase next year’s semester fees by 5% as proposed by the Student Representative Council (SRC) instead of 20%.
The administration called for the meeting after students started the boycott last Friday.
The university also owes substantial amounts of money to a company that provides meals to the students, PNG Power and PNG Water Board.
In the incident on Sunday, students manning the main gate stopped the bus carrying the council members and smashed the windscreen and windows.
Some then dragged the council members off the bus and assaulted them.
Police later arrived to escort the council members to safety.
“We have not been allowed on campus but we are monitoring the situation closely,” Lae metropolitan commander Chief Supt Nema Mondiai told The National.
SRC vice-president Samson Apai said it was good that the governing council agreed to reduce the increase to 5% but the students were opposing any increase at all
“I think we (SRC) have done the best we could in this case,” he said.
He appealed to the students not to take the law into their own hands and do further damage to the university.
“This is a matter for the council and the National Government to deal with now. We (SRC) cannot guarantee the safety of the university,” he said.
He added that the students, who would be sitting for their examinations this month, were likely to continue their boycott until the governing council met with them.
Sources had told The National that the university owed National Catering Services about K3 million and that the company had given the administration a deadline which expired last Friday.
They said they did not know whether students would continue to receive the meals.
Power to the university was cut off recently and restored only after the administration paid some of K600,000 owed to PNG Power.
One department head said several lecturers had also left.