Apec budget K300m: PM

PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill told Parliament that the Government had budgeted K300 million last year for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit.
O’Neill was responding to Moresby Northwest MP and former prime minister Sir Mekere Morauta yesterday in Parliament.
“We’ve only budgeted K300 million in the 2018 Budget for the Apec, how in the world will we be spending K5 billion when our own annual budget is about K12 billon,” O’Neill said.
“It’s just ridiculous and unbecoming of leaders to suggest and be making up stories. I can assure you that I will get Apec minister to table a final report.”
O’Neill said the Government was waiting for the Ombudsman Commission to give clearance to the vehicles and some of the assets that were purchased for the event to be publicly tendered.
“Once that has been done, I’ll table a final report to this House, including a very detailed financial statement,” O’Neill said. He said some government officers who had used the vehicles during the Apec summit had not returned them to the pool.
“Those are the vehicles that are being pursued but certainly not 10 per cent as suggested by Finance Secretary Dr Ken Ngangan. It’s far less than that,” O’Neill said.
“Our policemen and women and officers are retrieving those vehicles as we speak.”
He said vehicles allocated to members of the government were ones that were owned by Ela Motors and were never paid for by the State.
“They lend the vehicles for two weeks to be used during the Apec summit and they were returned to Ela Motors and they sold the vehicles as they saw fit.
“There was no discussion with Ela Motors or any other person about allocating these individual vehicles to members.
“That is a decision entirely for Ela Motors as a business concern of theirs and whoever they sell it to, whether it be leaders or private citizens, it’s entirely up to Ela Motors and Government has got no role in that allocation.”