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K30million Sepik funds
wasted
THE parliamentary Public Accounts Committee
(PAC) has cited serious breaches of the laws by trustees and officers of
relevant provincial and National Government departments in the
management of over K30 million in the Sepik Highway Trust.
The report into this trust fund was presented to Parliament yesterday by
deputy chairman of PAC Dr Bob Danaya.
The fund was operated between May 2002 and May 2006.
The report said money put into this account were wasted, and recommended
that recovery action be taken against individuals and companies that
took money from this trust.
It also recommended police action, and referred former Finance Secretary
Thaddeus Kambanei to the public prosecutor, police and Ombudsman
Commission for possible breach of the Finance Management Act.
The PAC in its report said the committee found serious and continuous
breaches of the requirements of the trust instrument by the trustees and
that the monies in the trust account may not have been spent
appropriately.
“The contracting of projects funded from the trust account may not have
been spent appropriately and for the purpose set out in the trust
instruments,” Dr Danaya said.
“Contracts had been let to companies that were not viable or did not
exist and the trustees and responsible officers of the Department of
Finance had failed in their duty to ensure effective management of
contracts,” Dr Danaya said.
He said the trustees failed in their obligation to ensure that payments
were made only for properly completed works and contracts were not
completed or were inadequately performed and in some cases not even
commenced.
“K30 million of public monies passed through the trust account. The
source of only K7 million can be identified because there are no proper
records.”
The report stated that only one contract was properly tendered,
evaluated and granted but even then, the records were incomplete and
inadequate.
“The committee cannot identify virtually any tangible benefit to the
country from the expenditure of K30 million of public monies.”
The report said the evidence clearly showed that the trustees and senior
public servants failed or refused to fulfill their roles to any
acceptable standard.
The report in its recommendations asked for Parliament to accept the
report and the findings and resolutions need to be actioned by the
Government without delay.
It recommended funding for the Auditor-Generals Office to conduct audits
and that the police are resourced and assisted to carry out a detailed
investigation and prosecution.
 
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