Leave fares pending

By PETER WARI
A LACK of communication between the Education Department, Treasury and Bank South Pacific has seen some teachers in Western Highlands yet to collect their leave fares, an official says .
Papua New Guinea Teachers Association (PNGTA) Western Highlands branch president John Yaga told The National that some teachers who collected their leave fares had their previous payment amounts and number of dependents reduced.
“It is not a privilege, it is their entitlements and their plans to celebrate the festive period with their loved ones had been deprived,” Yaga said.
He said the teachers’ association wanted to work in partnership with the PNG Teaching Service Commission and provincial education boards in each province to address teachers’ welfare.
“Proper data must be kept so that it should not be an issue in the future,” he said.
Yaga said the current process had failed, resulting in the delay and the Education Department needed to go back to the old system where lists of teachers’ names were displayed and payments given on time.
Acting administrator Stanley Maip said a budget of K1.4 million had been approved to sort out the issue and PNGTA had to be patient.
He said some of the teachers provided wrong account numbers, some provided accounts that were not consistent and others had errors while many had collected their leave fares.
“It is only a few disgruntled officers that have raised their complaints to Papua New Guinea Teachers Association, they should commend the provincial education division and the provincial administration for looking into their grievances and approving the budget on time,” he said.
Maip said the provincial administration had done their part but the delay in paying some teachers was because the information provided had been incorrect.
“It is not our fault, it is the teachers’ fault in providing account details that had errors, the bank has its own process and procedures, it has to properly rectify an account before it goes to the next (step) and that has slowed the process.”