PAC questions $3.3 million funding for Honiara Senior High School, including project costs, budgeting and further funding needs
The Public Accounts Committee has questioned the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development over a $3.3 million allocation to complete the rehabilitation of Honiara Senior High School.
The issue was raised during the committee’s examination of the ministry’s 2026 Supplementary Appropriation Bill, with members questioning the project’s total cost, budget classification and whether further funding could be required.
Public Accounts Committee member Manasseh Sogavare questioned why the full cost of completing the project was not included in the original 2026 budget estimates.
“Why was the full completion cost not fully captured in the original 2026 budget estimates?
“Does this $3.3 million represent the final payment required for completing the project, or should the committee be expecting further supplementary requests for the school before the end of this year?” Sogavare asked.
Sogavare also questioned why the allocation was processed through a recurrent advance warrant when it was associated with capital works.
“Why is this capital development project being processed through the recurrent warrant, rather than the development budget?” he asked.
Deputy Secretary Corporate Services Coldrine Kolae said the additional funding resulted from issues identified during construction and did not represent an expansion of the project.
“When the construction was ongoing, there were some issues like geotech was not being captured in the initial design and agreement with the partner, as well as some of those internal work, internal like tiling and furniture, that have not come,” Kolae said.
Kolae said the Government and its development partner had also discussed variations that were not included in the original project arrangements.
He said the additional $3.3 million was being used to cover outstanding finishing works and other requirements identified during the project.
Kolae told the committee that the construction work had been completed and that Honiara Senior High School was expected to be handed over by the end of the month or early the following month.
He also indicated that the project was not expected to require another allocation in the following year once the current works were completed.
The PAC’s questioning focused on the project’s initial costing, the classification of the additional funding and the need to ensure that major government projects are adequately planned and budgeted.
The ministry, meanwhile, attributed the additional funding to construction-related issues and project variations that emerged during implementation.
By: Steven Kamoa
