ESP’s expenditure to be re-checked

THE East Sepik government will set up a unit consisting of forensic accountants, lawyers and police officers to go through public expenditure for the past three years.
According to a Governor Allan Bird’s Facebook page, the government had spent a lot of money last year engaging the national fraud squad but no arrest was made.
“So this year, we are changing our approach to ensure we can get a professional investigation and a successful prosecution,” he said.
“Investigations are good but they are a waste of public funds if we cannot get an arrest and a conviction. Enough is enough,” he added.
He said most of the public procurement in PNG was designed to benefit “corrupt individuals”.
“The second popular scheme for corruption is based on paper proposals by individuals or groups under the pretext of delivering a certain service or project for the Government. Whether it’s a proposal to farm ducks, crocodiles, chickens, cocoa or pigs, the intent is the same – to defraud the State and the people to whom the money belongs.”