By JAMES KILA
HALF of K300,000 allocated by the Eastern Highlands provincial government for the establishment of coffee nurseries was used to purchase new vehicles, angering Governor Malcolm Kela-Smith.
Speaking while handing down the 2008 Eastern Highlands province budget recently, Mr Kela-Smith said it was clear monies allocated to development agencies were not properly coordinated and spent in the last five years.
He said the division of Agriculture and Livestock in the province in particular was diverting funds meant for setting up coffee nurseries in the province to purchase new vehicles – which was not supposed to be the case.
The governor said this justified the establishment of the new District Development Authority in 2008, which would monitor and ensure that funds were spent where they were meant to be spent.
Mr Kela-Smith said this would ensure funds were not spent unnecessarily or rolled over into the next fiscal year.
The authority would be provided with K3 million to operate efficiently.
The Eastern Highlands budget for 2008 is projected at K71.6 million.