ENB service providers still waiting for payment

SERVICE providers in East New Britain are still waiting to be paid for the services they provided during the Benefits Sharing Agreement in Kokopo in May 2009.
They said in a statement last week their invoices had been checked and cleared by all responsible departments but they had not received any payments.
“We have previously given notice under section 5 of the Claims By and Against the State Act and reiterate that we were retained on their behalf,” they said.
They said they were now taking legal action against the Department of Petroleum and Energy and Department of Finance to pay all outstanding invoices, which had been cleared by Deloitte Touche Charted Accountants.
They said they provided accommodation, transport and food and it was not their fault there had been a budget blow-out.
They said from the planning of two weeks, it ended up with 10 weeks and 2000 people turned up when they expected 700 people.
They claimed that during that time, K4 million was paid out to landowners.
“What about the service providers? We borrowed money to feed and transport them to places.
“We have contributed to the budget of the government so please pay us our outstanding invoices,” they said.