Duma brushes off allegations

By DALE LUMA
COMMERCE and Industry Minister William Duma has dismissed allegations that K80 million parked at the National Development Bank (NDB) to fund small to medium enterprises (SME) went missing within a week.
Duma said the money was with the bank which included the K100 million given to Bank South Pacific (BSP).
He said this in response to an article published on Facebook that the money was given to him, his administration and Government MPs camped at a resort outside Port Moresby. The article stated that K30 million from the K80 million remained with the bank less than a week after the money was deposited.
Duma said whoever wrote the article deliberately twisted the facts to suit their political leanings.
“All one needs to do is to check with Bank South Pacific and NDB and you can get an honest answer,” Duma said.
“This is the people’s money and instead of trying to manage it in our department we have done the right thing by asking the professionals (the banks) to lend to genuine hardworking nationals involved in the SME sector.
“The money is still with the two banks.
“Instead of wasting time and twisting facts, apply for a loan and do something for yourself and your family.
“We politicians will not feed you and your families.
“We are giving our people an opportunity to do something for themselves by making available funding which they can have access to regardless of which side of politics they follow or where they originate from.”
Duma said the K20 million allocated to the Department of Commerce and Industry was not for his personal use as speculated in the article but for:
lInvestment Promotion Authority;
lSmall Medium Enterprise Corporation;
lRegistrar of Cooperative Societies; and,
lOther entities under the Commerce and Industry Ministry.
“Our people must check the facts before publishing misleading articles,” Duma said.
Micro Small Medium Enterprise (MSME) Council president Desmond Yaninen said the allegation was highly unlikely.
“I have asked the NDB chairman to release a media statement to put this issue to rest,” Yaninen said.
“Banks are highly regulated by BPNG (Bank of Papua New Guinea).
“It is virtually impossible to do this without getting into trouble with the regulator.”
“The K80 million was given to NDB last Thursday out of the K200 million government budget allocation for SMEs of which K100 million was parked with BSP and the remaining K20 to DCI to support operations of different agencies under the ministry of Commerce and Industry.”