K45m for Unitech

By JUNIOR UKAHA
THE University of Technology in Lae will operate on a budget of K45 million this year, says Vice-Chancellor Dr Albert Schram.
Schram said the university was initially allocated K40 million by the Government but the Minister for Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (HERST) Francis Marus committed another K5 million to the institution during a recent visit to the university.
Schram said the K45 million was the same as the university’s budget last year.
“We have already received some money and have started last week.
“The Government has also promised to give us K40 million last year to replace our burnt down infrastructures but I think they have revised it and will settle at K25 million.”
Schram said one reason their budget had not changed was that they had the same enrollment figure (3,000) like last year’s.
Among the 3,000 students are 575 first-year students who will be undertaking various undergraduate programmes at the university.
“We are still registering students.
“About 80 per cent of the students have registered for classes already.”
Schram said they were yet to build a new student mess and replace the other building that was torched during the student arrest last year and hoped funding became available so that these projects would be completed.