Ex-staff accused of misappropriating K6 million

A FORMER staff of a previous South Fly MP will stand trial in the National Court accused of misappropriating K6 million belonging to the district development funds, Daru District Court Magistrate Gami Madu says.
The Daru District Court on Friday found enough evidence to commit Andrew Menger Marubu to stand trial on two counts of false assumption of authority and one count of misappropriation of K6 million.
Marubu, of Bela village in Mendi, Southern Highlands, is a former first secretary of ex-South Fly MP Sali Subam.
He allegedly conspired with Subam in 2011 and others to divert K6 million intended to build houses for health workers in remote South Fly, Western.
Magistrate Madu said Marubu’s co-accused included Kiriwina-Goodenough MP Douglas Tomuriesa and his wife Rachael, who were facing committal process at the Waigani District Court in Port Moresby.
It was alleged that in October 2011, the Finance Department allocated K6 million to South Fly under the supplementary budget for construction of health workers’ houses in the district.
The K6 million was remitted to the South Fly treasury account.
Subam convened a joint district priority budget planning committee meeting in November 2011 and made a number of resolutions, which included the decision to tender the project which changed the scope from building houses to supply of building materials. Recommendation was made to Central Supplies and Tenders Board (CSTB) to tender the rural housing programme.
As a requirement for tender, CSTB requested technical evaluation and recommendations to be made to it as to who would be awarded the contract.
An unauthorised purported technical evaluation committee recommended Quick Span Building Systems Ltd to be awarded the contract.
The contract was eventually awarded to Quick Span.
It took nearly 12 months from the date the contract was awarded and payment of K6mil made to the company, when the company delivered roofing iron at Daru and Morehead in South Fly.
The contract was for the roofing iron to be delivered to 62 locations in the Morehead rural local level government area.
However, the roofing iron was delivered in Daru town and Morehead station in South Fly.
At the time of his arrest and after seven years, the roofing iron remained in Daru and Morehead as funding was needed to deliver it to locations.
The contract was not delivered.
Police investigations revealed the scope of work for the project was changed from the initial purpose the money was released to the South Fly treasury.
Four officers named as members of the technical evaluation committee denied their involvement.