The Ministry of Education will investigate how free milk given to a prominent Lautoka school was allegedly sold on the streets.

Minister for Education Mahendra Reddy said he was told about the incident but would need to conduct an investigation into the incident. The milk and Weet-Bix are given free by the ministry to Year One students to have in school.

Lautoka businessman, Narayan Reddy, bought six packets of the 250ml Rewa Life Milk at 50 cents each from a man at the Lautoka Bus Station on Friday.

“I was at one part of the bus stand and noticed the man with a full carton of the milk hand over a couple to another person,” he claimed.

Curious as to what was being done here, he approached the person who had purchased the milk and was told he bought them for 50 cents a packet.

“I approached the man selling and asked him for six packets and paid him the $3.”

He said he then asked the man where he had got the milk from and he said his child was given two cartons of the milk by a teacher before the school year finished.

“He told me that there were surplus cartons of milk at the school and some were given out to the children,” Mr Reddy said.

“When I told him that the milk was free and how come he was selling it, he told me he had used one carton at home and sold the other to make money.”

He said he told the man that  it was wrong because it was free milk given for the children.

“I was really shocked but bought the milk to confirm that the man was selling it.”

He said the man’s child was attending a prominent school in Lautoka.

Mr Reddy said he would comment once investigations were completed.

Edited by Naisa Koroi

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