Firm awaits payment

By ISAAC LIRI
A service provider to the local organising committee (LOC) of the 2016 Fifa Under-20 women’s World Cup is still waiting for its outstanding payments.
Koneva Constructions Ltd, which was trading as LLD Transport during the Fifa event, is among a group of service providers that have been waiting for over a year now.
Other service providers include the St John Ambulance and LD Logistics as well as staff of the LOC.
According to Koneva Constructions owner Julie Kamuri, the company is still owed K173,000 for their transportation services from September to December 2016.
“Before the actual games started, we provided transportation for the LOC staff from their homes to the venues,” Kamuri said.
“We were paid for the first month but there is still an outstanding amount that we are yet to receive. We have been following up since last year.
“During the Fifa event, we used six buses, one 25-seater and five 15-seater buses. All these vehicles are not in use now. “We are waiting for the outstanding payments to come in so we can get these vehicles up and running.”
PNG Football Association was aware of the matter and clarified that all service providers would be paid after the auditing process was completed.
PNGFA vice-president John Wesley Gonjuan confirmed that Koneva and some other suppliers were still waiting for their outstanding payments.
“The local organising committee has given the financial report to Fifa and the financial report is being audited by BDO accountants,” Gonjuan said.
“The delay is due to the discrepancy on the outstanding amounts from two major suppliers. We have resolved that, and the auditors will finalise the report by the end of this month and we will forward it to Fifa for vetting and release of funds.”
Apart from the LOC service providers, there is also another separate group of service providers of the Fifa event that are waiting on the State through the PNG Sports Foundation for their pay outs.