Councillors query MP over DSIP funds

By JAYNE SAFIHAO
LOCAL level governments members in Bogia, Madang, are questioning the use of the district support improvement programme funds by local MP John Hickey.
This came about after Yawar LLG president Wilfred Muturam had his vehicle stoned on New Year’s Eve after he and others were helping Madang police personnel during the festive season.
The brand new vehicle, which has yet to be issued safety stickers, suffered damage estimated at K600.
Muturam queried the whereabouts of the K970,000 earmarked for law and justice programmes under the Hickey’s DSIP funding.
A recent audit report said of the K10 million funding received, K9,275,944 had been from June 2008 to June 30, 2010.
But although K970,000 had been allocated for the law and justice programmes, nothing had been spent in the sector.
The audit report noted that all these expenditures were charged against only four of the eight approved programmes: administration – K35,547 of a total of K300,000; education – K5,601,037 from a total of K970,000 earmarked; agriculture and community-based programmes – K307,000 from K1,170,000 and transport and community infrastructure – K3,332,360 from the K3,880,000 earmarked.
“We want to know where the K970,000 is. The books show clearly that he has not spent anything on improving the law and order situation in Bogia,” Muturam said.
“The police station is condemned and deemed unfit for offenders, there are no firearms and even ammunition stock, no police vehicles, fuel and the list goes on.”
The audit report said important impact projects such as rural electrification, health, water supply and sanitation and law and justice, were allocated K970,000 but were never funded.
It said K9.27m was spent during the period under review on only four programmes.
Payment vouchers in the audit revealed that five payments totaling K381,975 had no requisition of expenditure form (FF3) attached; 11 payment vouchers totalling K1,089,626 had no invoices or quotations attached and that several payments totalling K92,000 had not been signed by a Section 32 officer.
Muturam said the people of Bogia needed to wake up and see the sorry state of their district, which was far behind in basic government services compared to the other six districts in Madang.