DPM irked by payouts

DEPUTY Prime Minister Don Polye has lashed out at the manner in which certain Government departments and statutory organisations have made payouts in millions of kina in recent weeks.
And the Government has instructed Chief Secretary Isaac Lupari and other departmental heads including Finance Department to make sure no payments of cheques were made to any group that are not in the budget.
“At this time, any cheques paid would be questionable,” he said, adding services must still go out to the people but in normal transparent processes established under the Public Finances (Management) Act 1995.
Mr Polye, who is also the Transport and Civil Aviation Minister, was especially concerned that these cheques were being paid out during the election period and that banks, including the Central Bank, had reportedly not applied the seven, 14 or 21-day clearance policies exercised by banks.
Mr Polye raised these concerns yesterday in relation to an alleged K5.7 million cheque payment, which was made by the Mineral Resources Development Corporation (MRDC) to a politician.
Government officials acted quickly and stopped the politician from cashing the cheque at a commercial bank.
Mr Polye also made mention of the K2 million cheque, which was also reportedly paid to the same politician by the Department of National Planning and Monitoring, and the cheque was cashed the same day.

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