Held over failure to clear funds

Main Stories

By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK
ACTING Gulf administrator Emmanuel Xavier has been charged with failing to approve funds for a joint-police team to investigate corruption allegations in the provincial administration, acting National Fraud and Anti-Corruption director Chief Insp Timothy Gitua says.
Xavier, 56, from Kikori’s Vilala Holoi village, Gulf, was charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice for not approving funds for travelling allowances, hire cars and accommodation for a 16-member team from the Port Moresby-based police dog unit and detectives from the national fraud and anti-corruption directorate.
Xavier is accused of not approving funds for the teams to use in their seven-day investigation.
This joint-team was in Kerema on July 8, to investigate an audit report sanctioned by the Finance Department.
Xavier is out on K500 bail after being locked up in the Boroko Police Station and will appear before the Waigani District Court for committal proceedings.
Gitua said yesterday that the joint-team was investigating allegations of widespread corruption and misappropriation practices by provincial administration officers from 2011 to 2019.
On Sept 1, 2017, Gulf Governor Chris Haiveta directed the then-provincial administrator to facilitate investigations into an outstanding audit report for the provincial public accounts committee.
On Feb 12, 2018, Haiveta received an audit report of the findings into funds expended from 2011-2019.
On Oct 9, Haiveta provided the audit report to Finance deputy secretary Sam Penias.
On Dec 15, the Gulf audit committee held a meeting attended by Xavier, in which a resolution was passed to refer the audit report to the directorate as a registered complaint on March 5.

2 comments

  • For the last 5 yrs nothing much was done in the districts , about 99.9% survive on the mother nature.
    thank-you so much rot in gulf its about time,,

  • Surely Policing is not a devolved power to any province but is a National Government function and thus Police Budget must finance their day to day activities…..Is this merely a delaying tactic?

Comments are closed.