SUGARCANE farmers have dragged Industry and Commerce Minister Mike Bimha to court.

THE Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development has been irked by the unilateral decision by Treasury to cut salaries for universities’ staff in the 2017 National Budget.

The 2017 National Budget slashed almost 50 percent of the ministry’s allocation and that had mostly affected lecturers.

Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development secretary Dr Machivenyika Mapuranga said they had since written to Treasury registering their displeasure on that move.

He said the net effect of the move was an increase on the fees for students, most of whom come from poor backgrounds and were already struggling to pay.

“The ministry has written to the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, expressing utter dismay on the unilateral decision to reduce Government’s obligation to meet employment costs of State universities without basing it on any facts or evidence,” said Dr Mapuranga.

“For the avoidance of doubt, no decision has been made by Government to reduce its obligation to meet the employment cost of State universities.”

As a ministry, Dr Mapuranga said, they had since raised the issue through Parliament, after noting concerns from the universities.

“The Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development takes these concerns so seriously, that on 17 January 2017, it presented to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Technology Development the gravity of the reduction on the estimates of expenditure on salaries for grant aided institutions from S$221 601 000 to $125 178 000,” he said.

“Universities are owed US$963 320 by Treasury being half of August 2015 salary.”

Dr Mapuranga said the same concerns were shared by all vice chancellors of State universities who indicated that they were ambushed by the reduction of the salaries.

Dr Mapuranga said: “The Ministry and the Vice Chancellors agreed that there appears to be a shocking lack of appreciation by Treasury on the strategic role universities play in socio-economic development of the nation.

“The reasons given for the unilateral slashing of salaries are that Treasury cannot sustain the continued full payment of costs on account of limited fiscal space due to continued revenue under performances.”

Dr Mapuranga said universities were already owed by students who were failing to pay the current fees due to the prevailing economic hardships. As a result, he said, some of the students were failing to access their results.

He said staff associations at the universities had since raised a red flag, saying the slashing of salaries was illegal in terms of the Labour Act.