PNGBLOGS

National Reports Senior public servants in the province and their cronies, in collusion with the banks, helped themselves to about K5 million of the total K18 million relief funds between 2007 and 2009, the auditor-general said in the report to the manager of the state-established Oro Restoration Authority, Sinai Brown. As a result, there were no major capital works and significant maintenance to restore services and infrastructure damaged by the cyclone in November 2007. Assistant auditor-general Gordon Kega, who was in charge of the investigation, recommended that all signi-ficant payments to individuals should be checked and individuals prosecuted for defrauding the state. The 11-page report to Brown, a copy of which was made available to The National, said 87 individuals were paid a total of K4,610,147 “for unknown services”. Neither Brown nor Northern administration officials could be contacted to comment on the report. The auditor-general’s office concluded that no proper financi

National Reports Senior public servants in the province and their cronies, in collusion with the banks, helped themselves to about K5 million of the total K18 million relief funds between 2007 and 2009, the auditor-general said in the report to the manager of the state-established Oro Restoration Authority, Sinai Brown. As a result, there were no major capital works and significant maintenance to restore services and infrastructure damaged by the cyclone in November 2007. Assistant auditor-general Gordon Kega, who was in charge of the investigation, recommended that all signi-ficant payments to individuals should be checked and individuals prosecuted for defrauding the state. The 11-page report to Brown, a copy of which was made available to The National, said 87 individuals were paid a total of K4,610,147 “for unknown services”. Neither Brown nor Northern administration officials could be contacted to comment on the report. The auditor-general’s office concluded that no proper financi

    PNG EXPOSED   Former Solicitor General, Zachary Gelu, should never be employed again in a senior position in the public service. This is the stark recommendation from the Commission of Inquiry into the Department of Finance after it found Gelu implicated in many of the scams in which a total of K780 million was stolen from the people of PNG between 2000 and 2006. The particular scam that prompted the Commission’s recommendation involved the former Administrator of the Southern Highlands, Tau Liu. In 1999 Liu claimed over K220,000 in damages from the State for alleged wrongful dismissal although in fact he had in fact only been suspended from duty, not terminated. In February 2003, then Solicitor General, Zachary Gelu, agreed to the claim and signed a deed of release in the sum of K305,410.61 (which included more that K70,000 in interest payments). The claim was approved by Gelu even though the State had initially filed a defense end had several good g

    PNG EXPOSED   Former Solicitor General, Zachary Gelu, should never be employed again in a senior position in the public service. This is the stark recommendation from the Commission of Inquiry into the Department of Finance after it found Gelu implicated in many of the scams in which a total of K780 million was stolen from the people of PNG between 2000 and 2006. The particular scam that prompted the Commission’s recommendation involved the former Administrator of the Southern Highlands, Tau Liu. In 1999 Liu claimed over K220,000 in damages from the State for alleged wrongful dismissal although in fact he had in fact only been suspended from duty, not terminated. In February 2003, then Solicitor General, Zachary Gelu, agreed to the claim and signed a deed of release in the sum of K305,410.61 (which included more that K70,000 in interest payments). The claim was approved by Gelu even though the State had initially filed a defense end had s

PEKU PILIMBO ONE of the richest province in Papua New Guinea is the Southern Highlands. It is a province that is meeting the oil supplies to several countries in the world after the Napanapa refinery was built. The province also boasts of having natural gas supplies after the recent discovery at Juha and Angore as well as others in the Western and Gulf provinces. The province will bring in billions of kina once production starts. But at the moment it is one of the poorest provinces when you look at the delivery of basic government services. There are very few sealed roads, bridges, hospitals, doctors, nurses, teachers, agriculture advisers, vocational teachers, missionaries, and the list goes on. The new LNG project will need good roads, communication, electricity, hospitals with doctors and other necessary facilities that will enable the successful operation. The country earns much of its revenue from exports of all the oil that is produced from the province. The amount o

PEKU PILIMBO ONE of the richest province in Papua New Guinea is the Southern Highlands. It is a province that is meeting the oil supplies to several countries in the world after the Napanapa refinery was built. The province also boasts of having natural gas supplies after the recent discovery at Juha and Angore as well as others in the Western and Gulf provinces. The province will bring in billions of kina once production starts. But at the moment it is one of the poorest provinces when you look at the delivery of basic government services. There are very few sealed roads, bridges, hospitals, doctors, nurses, teachers, agriculture advisers, vocational teachers, missionaries, and the list goes on. The new LNG project will need good roads, communication, electricity, hospitals with doctors and other necessary facilities that will enable the successful operation. The country earns much of its revenue from exports of all the oil that is produced from the province. The amou

PNG EXPOSED Port Moresby MP, Andrew Mald, is identified in the Finance Department Commission of Inquiry report as having stolen K5,193,538 from the people of PNG The MP, former Solicitor General Zacchary Gelu, former Attorney General Francis Damem and private lawyers Peter Pena and Jeffrey Abone are been recommended for prosecution over the unlawful payment to Mr Mald. The Commission of Inquiry uncovered how MP Mald submitted a fraudulent claim against the State, which, despite numerous flaws, was approved for payment by Gelu and Damem. Mald’s claim was in respect of a piece of land in Port Moresby, for which he claimed to have a valid lease. However the Commission of Inquiry found that Mald’s lease was unlawful and had been fraudulently obtained. That fraud included an illegal meeting of the Lands Board, falsification of the meeting minutes and a failure to gazette the lease. Not only was Mald’s lease totally illegal, his claim for damages was similarly flawed. The claim did not satis

PNG EXPOSED Port Moresby MP, Andrew Mald, is identified in the Finance Department Commission of Inquiry report as having stolen K5,193,538 from the people of PNG The MP, former Solicitor General Zacchary Gelu, former Attorney General Francis Damem and private lawyers Peter Pena and Jeffrey Abone are been recommended for prosecution over the unlawful payment to Mr Mald. The Commission of Inquiry uncovered how MP Mald submitted a fraudulent claim against the State, which, despite numerous flaws, was approved for payment by Gelu and Damem. Mald’s claim was in respect of a piece of land in Port Moresby, for which he claimed to have a valid lease. However the Commission of Inquiry found that Mald’s lease was unlawful and had been fraudulently obtained. That fraud included an illegal meeting of the Lands Board, falsification of the meeting minutes and a failure to gazette the lease. Not only was Mald’s lease totally illegal, his claim for damages was similarly flawed. The claim did not satis

By: PNG Exposed Betha Somare, the daughter of Prime Minister Michael Somare, and his Press Secretary has been been attempting to defend the governments lack of action on the Paraka Scams in an email correspondence forwarded to this blog. As you can read below, while Betha has been willing to talk, which is commendable, she has not yet been able to provide legitimate answers to some simple questions like: Why has the government not tried to get the injunction against prosecutions lifted? That question got a response any first year law student could spot was false and other questions about Gabriel Yer and the Kapris Tapes have been met with obfuscation – not answers. While Betha should be congratulated for her attempts at open government her answers so far do nothing to challenge the fact that her father, Michael Somare, is the Chief of a government that is overseeing the theft of millions of Kina every week from the people of PNG. Whether that is because: He is compl