University students stranded

MORE than 300 University of Technology students in Lae have been told to look for their own accommodation while waiting for the PNG Waterboard to install new water pumps on campus.
The water woes have already affected the original registration week, which was supposed to be from Feb7 to 12.
Students who had  flown in from various destinations are stranded on campus.
They have been told to look for their own accommodation and food, until registration begins February 21.
Student Representative Council (SRC) president Justin Herepe told The National this was a security threat for many of his female college mates.
“The Unitech administration and the PNG Water Board must fasttrack the installation of the water pumps,” he said.
“We hope the Unitech student facility centre (SFC), under the office of the acting pro-vice chancellor Wilson Tovirika, will access accommodation and mess facilities as soon as possible.
“Many of us have been caught off-guard and we have no wantoks in the city,” he said.
“The untimely media alert from the Unitech administration was too late, ” he said.
 Students had already flown in and arrived on campus for the start of registration on Feb 7.
“We are already two weeks late into the registration week and this will definitely affect all planned and intended activities for this academic year,” he said.
“But the issue now is that we want the Unitech administration to cater for the 300 plus students who have already checked into campus.
“We are hoping that the  PNG Waterboard can speed up their work so that we can begin the academic year,” he said.