Steven: Procedure not followed

By SAMUEL BARIASI
THE PNG Constitution explains that all money belonging to the State, regardless of where it is derived from, must come under one consolidated revenue fund, Deputy Prime Minister Davis Steven says.
He was commenting on last Monday’s Supreme Court declaration of the Public Money Management Regularisation (PMMR) Act 2017 as unconstitutional, invalid and ineffective. Steven, who is the Minister for Justice and Attorney-General, explained that the PMMR legislation was initially drafted outside the State Solicitor’s Office, which left room for serious constitutional challenges.
“The Supreme Court’s decision last Monday reminds us in the Government and all departments to follow all the procedures set out by our Constitution in drafting laws,” he said.
“The underlying objective of PMMR was to ensure that all monies received by the public and statutory bodies were brought under control by the Finance Department.”
Steven said the Government was trying to avoid a situation where Government departments and statutory bodies were setting up their own financial systems and trust accounts.
“Many of them were beginning to deliver programmes and had their own budgets,” he said.
“They were already undertaking service delivery and activities that were obviously creating difficulty, uncertainty and confusion in the way we are managing public monies in our country.”
Steven said following the Supreme Court’s decision, he had written to Prime Minister James Marape seeking his direction for further action.
“I am seeking his direction on whether my department, Treasury, Finance and related agencies of Government can review the legislation and redraft a new version to protect the processes that we have initiated under PMMR,” he said.
“Future bills must not be rushed and must receive wide consultation from relevant Government agencies before being approved.”
by the National Executive Council.”