Govt funding for private business

ALLOW me to comment on commercial projects around the country being funded under the government’s public investment programme. We need to be clear about the ownership of those projects if it is either fully funded by the government or part of a shared equity arrangement with the government. One such case is the K400 million funding of paper farmers under the failed National Agriculture Development Plan which has never seen a single tree planted.
Genuine farmers deserve the same money to be paid to them if the government is serious about improving the output of the tree crop sector. Another wastage reported in the media is the K5 million given recently by the national planning department to the Simbu/Chuave limestone project.
Who are the beneficiaries and what is the shareholding structure if it is a partnership between the national or the provincial Government.
If the money is pumped into a private entity owned by private directors, the move should immediately ring alarm bells because the government has to be prepared to pay K5 million to other projects of similar profile around the country, just to be fair to everyone.
A general rule of thumb is for the national government to inject public funds into any commercial project of which 51 per cent of the controlling shares are held by Kumul Consolidated Holdings Limited or its nominated entity.
Otherwise every private business around the country deserves to be given K5 million by the government. It will be totally unjust to take taxpayer money and sink it to projects owned by private citizens.

Concerned Citizen