Sydney’s Yeshiva College and the Government’s $400,000
Rebbetzin Pnina Feldman has told J-Wire that if all negotiation attempts to use funds allocated to Sydney’s Yeshiva College under the Building the Education Revolution [BER] fail, the College will return the money to the Government.
Rebbetzin Pnina Feldman
The College had received $400,000 being the first instalment of a $925,000 grant made by the Federal Government and administered by the Association of Independent Schools of NSW. The money had been earmarked by the Government not primarily for schools…but to stimulate business for the building industry. It came with a caveat stipulating that it had be used within a specific time frame. That time has passed and the Government wants its money back.
In a prepared statement, the College’s Shalom Feldman said: “The building project was delayed due to the threat of a sub-station being built by Ernergy Australia next door which may preclude small children from being safely schooled at the site.”
College principal Rebbitzin Pnina Feldman told J-Wire that within the last few weeks Energy Australia had confirmed that the sub-station was going ahead.
The College is now attempting to negotiate with the authorities to use the funds for the seniors boys’ school. Rebbetzin Feldman said that she was pursuing every available avenue to be permitted use the funds for other building purposes. She added that she believed there were around 80 other schools being audited as to the use of the funds, saying that if all else fails the money will be returned.
A spokesman for the Department of Education, EMployment and Workplace Relations said: “As an investigation in to the use of the funds is underway, the Department can make no comment.”
The Australian Jewish News is Jewish…so how they be called “anti-semitic”? I think the point of the story is that there are questions that need to be answered. Corruption isn’t only applicable to gentiles.
It’s very sad when The Australian JEWISH News (11/2/11) print “Cover Stories” that create anti-Semitic sentiments. It’s SCANDELOUS!
On 11 February the Jewish News was moved to write a story about the sad fate of a government grant for a new schoolroom at Yeshiva where money has been spent on building work which turned out to be unsafe for little children because of an electricity sub station upgrade across the road. It seems the money has to go back because the government won’t let it be spent on bigger children and Energy Australia (also still government, if I have the story straight from Macquarie Street) won’t move their big new substation in the middle of one of the most densely populated parts of Bondi. This is an interesting story about the woes of dealing with bureaucracies and how a little school is sandwiched between the electricity industry and the stimulus package. But wait there’s more! If we believe the AJN it’s the schools fault!! Where do they find their reporters?