Teachers promised full payment of leave fares

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By JIMMY KALEBE
TEACHERS in Morobe have been assured they will be paid the full leave fares they applied for by the province’s division of Education and Morobe administration.
Morobe programme adviser Keith Jiram made the announcement yesterday in front of teachers at Tutumang Haus eager to collect their leave fares for their holidays.
Despite a shortfall of K1.3 million faced by the province, the education division and Morobe administration made available K8 million for teachers’ leave fares in its budget.
Jiram said the commitment was made following the Treasury Department’s announcement that teachers maybe paid 50 per cent of their leave fares or less due to the cash-flow problems the country was facing.
“We made this commitment in the province because we want to compensate teachers and appreciate them for their commitments towards teaching our children,” he said.
“They are entitled to it and it is their right to leave fares so we made commitments to the issue despite having some cash-flow problems as indicated by the Treasury Department.”
Jiram said the shortfall was covered by funds from other programmes.
Asked what the delay was in releasing cheques made available for the teachers to access, Jiram said the commitment was made last Friday.
He said the delay was due to the time taken for the printing of the cheques and the time it would take for the bank to clear them. “This processes should be completed by the end of this week or by early next week, teachers should get their fares ready,” he said.