The multi-million kina refugee processing facility in Manus Province will be handed over to the Department of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (DHERST) next week.
Minister for Immigration, Wesley Nukundj, told Parliament that as per the recent National Executive Council (NEC) decision, the facility that had been under the auspices of his Ministry would be handed and converted into a technical college.
He said this when responding to Questions Without Notice from the Governor of Manus, Charlie Benjamin, about the facility.
Mr Benjamin wanted to know when it should be transferred to DHERST.
Mr Nukundj said while the center was built for processing refugees it had been left idle after the processing center was transferred to Bomana in the National Capital District (NCD).
He said his department did not have any interest in the facility but was only managing it because DHERST did not have the financial capacity to manage it.
Meanwhile, the National Government plans to establish Technical Vocational Educational Training (TVET) Centers in every district in the country.
Minister for Higher Education and Sports Wesley Raminai said government plans to establish TVET schools in the 89 districts to cater for the thousands of school drop-outs from the formal education sector.
He said the TVET schools would provide technical and vocational skills programs like mechanical, electrical, plumbing, joinery, carpentry, tourism and hospitality and many others. He said the government had secured a K200 million loan through the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and invested it in 10 technical colleges in the country to prepare life skills training in anticipation of the major resource projects in the country.
Mr Raminai said the Australian government was also investing K120 million through grant funding to improve the TVET colleges.