Apec report to be made public

By PHOEBE GWANGILO
DETAILS of how funds allocated for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Leaders’ Summit in 2018 were used will be made public when an auditor-general’s report is tabled in Parliament, an official says.
Auditor-General Gordon Keaga said the report, submitted to the Speaker in April, was completed “without fear or favour, and in the interest of the general public”.
“Whether it will be tabled in (the next) sitting or not is up to the Speaker,” he said.
“People are interested to know about the use of Apec funds.
“The auditor-general has done its bit to audit and (submit) a report to Parliament.
“After it is tabled, the report (then) becomes public information.”
To MPs saying that the report would tarnish Papua New Guinea’s name if made public, Keaga said: “I’m not doing this for the politicians. I’m doing this for the people of PNG who are (the) taxpayers. This report will not be compromised.
“We will say what it is. We have a scope of audit and everything that we have done was within the laws governing Apec and the Public Finance Management Act.”
He said they faced problems getting financial statements to compile the report.
He said it would have helped if the account was maintained solely by the Apec Authority.
But the funds were looked after by five entities: the Prime Minister’s Department, police, defence, Finance Ministry and the Apec Authority.
“It took us more than a year to complete the report,” Keaga said.