Bad roads proof of abuse: Aitsi

By DYLAN MURRAY
POOR infrastructure is proof that the procurement processes have been abused, says Community Coalition Against Corruption (CCAC) co-chairman Peter Aitsi.
Aitsi made the remark at a CCAC steering committee meeting yesterday.
The Transparency International Papua New Guinea (TIPNG) chairman said there should be more accountability and transparency in the way District Services Improvement Project (DSIP) funds are used.
He said it was now one of CCAC’s priority areas.
“Our communities are victims of corrupted procurement and misused public funds when our taxes are given to questionable contractors who mismanage these funds and in return we get poor quality roads, substandard airports and incomplete maritime facilities,” he said.
“The social impact on the lives of citizens and the additional costs incurred by businesses are immense.”
Aitsi said it was unfair for Papua New Guinea’s citizens to pay more when their taxes go towards building the infrastructure that should be benefiting them.
The CCAC was founded in 2002 and relaunched in 2021, and is a loose network of organisations and community bodies and interest groups forming a network that come together to make recommendations on governance issues in the country.
It currently comprises the Council of Churches, Catholic Bishops Conference, Trade Union Congress, Centre for Environmental Law and Community Rights, Advancing PNG Women Leaders Network and the Lae Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
CCAC’s other co-chair and Media Council president Neville Choi said the coalition had come together last year to oppose the Government’s proposal to limit media freedom.
“The CCAC was concerned at the threatened erosion of citizens’ constitutional rights by what appeared to be the Government’s bulldozing of policies and laws without proper consultation with our communities,” Choi said.