Government MP and former Finance Minister, Professor Biman Prasad stated that there is nothing illegal about the budget allocation to Pacific Polytech and what Opposition MP Jone Usamate said is complete hogwash, while Usamate asks why there was a rush to terminate the Higher Education Commission Chair, who had a month left in his term.
While responding to comments by Usamate that the Higher Education Commission did not request funding for Pacific Polytech, Professor Prasad says the Director of the Higher Education Commission, through email, requested the Permanent Secretary, the Minister and the Ministry of Finance to consider a budget allocation for Pacific Polytech.
He says the Solicitor General has made it very clear that they are misinterpreting his opinion.
He says the Solicitor General had said the Minister for Education who decides what the Ministry allocates budget to, will decide if Pacific Polytech, like every other new institution, gets provisional registration, and then they move towards full registration.
Professor Prasad says it does not stop them from accessing funding.
INSERT: Prof on Polytech 12 mar
He adds the Minister of Education did the right thing by sacking the chairman of the Higher Education Commission, because it's the incompetence of sometimes people in these institutions that invite this kind of thing.
Opposition MP, Jone Usamate says the decision not to pay Pacific Polytech the grant was a board decision, yet the government decided to remove Board Chair, Steve Chand, who was basically working on legal advice provided by the Solicitor General's Office in September 2025, not to release the funds.
Insert: Usamate on Board Chair removal Mar 12
