Concern over cheques’ legitimacy

DEPARTMENT of Petroleum and Energy (DPE) secretary David Manau says an officer in the department had not followed due processes to distribute the Gobe project 14 incorporated land group (ILG) cheques recently.
Manau made the statement following concerns raised by Petroleum and Energy Minister Kerenga Kua last week who said there needed to be transparency in the disbursement of landowner payments.
“Clandestine acts such as these recent cheque presentations have led to numerous accusations being levelled against the department,” Kua said.
“It creates resentment and allows distrust to fester among landowners and ultimately the real beneficiaries in the villages end up missing out.”
Manau said on Friday that the cheques, totalling more than K9 million, were processed by the Finance Department and delivered to the DPE for payment on March 18.
“After the cheque signing, our coordination branch officer responsible for Gobe project received the cheques for safe keeping,” he said.
However, Manau said the officer did not adhere to following processes prior to distribution:

• Department to brief the minister on Gobe royalty underpayment;
• Transparent method and avenue of payment;
• Minister to make payments given the large amount of money (over K9 million); and,
• Witness (from the Finance Department, Solicitor-General’s office, etc) to be present with media coverage.

“I began receiving complaints on March 19 and I wrote to the bank (BSP) on March 20 to dishonour the 14 ILG cheques,” he said.
“The bank then assisted to put a stop payment on the bank accounts of the respective ILGs.”
Manau said on the same day (March 20), he wrote to Finance secretary Dr Ken Ngangan seeking his understanding and assistance to reprint all the cheques.
“The Finance Department provided assistance and the cheques were reprinted on April 1, 2020,” he said. “The minister has made the decision to have cheques distributed to Gobe ILG/clans at the project site village at Samberigi in Southern Highlands.
“The minister has also instructed that the Imawe Bogasi clan or stock clan cheque payment must be re-distributed to the nine beneficiary clans (Imawe Bogasi clans) as separate cheques based on their spending.
“In consultation with relevant stakeholders, we will do our best to arrange a logistics programme and have the cheques distributed transparently at the project site.”