A sit-in continues at the Sweetgrass First Nation near the Battlefords.

A group of residents are upset about a 1.78 million dollar housing project that came in almost 300-thousand dollars over budget.

An audit by accounting firm MNP indicates several of the ten individual units cost more than estimated with one almost 50-percent over budget.

The audit also found an unexplained extra unit that cost over 100-thousand.

Resident Constance Paskemin says they came to the band office wanting an explanation from the chief and council.

Paskemin says they are standing up for the young people and elders in the community who are unable to.

She says the discrepancies are upsetting to the many residents living in overcrowded and deplorable conditions in houses that have mould, mice and one which is infested with snakes in the summertime.

The grass-roots protesters want answers for themselves and Canadian taxpayers hoping the RCMP conducts a fraud investigation.

She says they have been staging a peaceful protest in the band office boardroom and are not disrupting band business.

The sit-in is into its ninth day.

There has been no response to a request for a comment from the chief about the situation.