Bribery claim surfaces at uni

 By BENNY GETENG

THE University of Papua New Guinea is investigating allegations of bribery within its accounts department.

Vice-Chancellor Prof Albert Mellam said this yesterday in response to claims by some students that they were being forced to bribe accounts officers to fast-track reimbursements of their various fees.

Mellam said while it was encouraging for students to bring the matter to the attention of the university, they should first approach his or the registrar’s offices and not go directly to the media.

“UPNG employees are expected to be transparent in the business of serving students. 

“The university administration has investigated the matter and dealt with the situation to fast-track the process of reimbursements,” Mellam said.

According to a student, who did not want to be named, there were certain officers within the UPNG accounts department who were asking students for money so that they could process their refund payments.

“There are some officers in the accounts department who are getting money from the students as payments after or before processing their refunds,” the student told The National. 

“Like students who are still waiting, I too submitted all the necessary paper work last year to the accounts office and fronted up every day only to be given excuses such as system down, blackouts, staff attending meetings and the list goes on, making me wait from weeks to months.

“Until I came across a friend of mine who told me about a lady who works at the accounts office. 

“He gave me her phone number and told me to call her, which I did and she made me promise her K100 for her role. 

“And within three days I got my cheque, overtaking most students that I knew have submitted their papers before me and are still waiting.” 

Said another student: “Those officers are making money out of students and must be stopped. 

“All we want is to get our money back and we should not be charged for that service.”