By Sileshi Yilma/ Public and International Relations Directorate
Haramaya University (HU) has secured 1,139,386,200 Birr budget for the upcoming new academic year as it was disclosed in a meeting which was held on July 4, 2014 at the Resource Center.
Out of the total budget, 631,098,600 Birr is located for capital budget where as the remaining 508,287,600 Birr goes as a recurrent budget, Dr. Fikadu Beyene, vice president for Administration and Students’ Affairs, indicated during the occasion.
Last year’s budget of HU was 1,058,865,702 Birr. According to the information HU Online obtained from HU’s Strategic Management and Institutional Transformation Directorate, the budget utilization of the 2006 academic year was 99.99%.
In 2007, according to Dr. Fikadu, the capital budget would be used to cover the construction of ongoing as well as four new projects. The new ones include two new cafeteria in the main and Harar campuses, modern garage, milling house, and asphalt and fence construction, Dr. Fikadu explained during the meeting.
In a separate interview with HU FM, the vice president said that last year’s utilization of the recurrent budget was more or less good. However, the capital budget’s performance had shown weaknesses especially due to the lagging behind of some construction projects. As a result, the University was even forced to cancel its contract with a number of construction companies who had repeatedly showed poor performance, Dr Fikadu added.
On the July 4’s meeting, apart from the discussion on budget, two presentations were made on the 2006 performance report and the 2007 plan. In addition, for the first time findings on last year’s supervision report was also made public. Following the presentations, a heated debate was conducted by the participants of the meeting.