K10mil road fund diverted

A BUDGET appropriation of K10 million in the 2018 national budget for the construction of the Gumine-Karamui-Nomane road in Chimbu has been diverted to another project, the local MP claims.
Speaking in Parliament yesterday, the local MP, Geoffrey Kama, said while the government needed to be commended for many projects initiated throughout the country, the bureaucrats were letting it down all the time.
He said a budget appropriation of K10 million for the Karamui-Nomane road project in his electorate had been diverted to another project to pay the contractor.
Kama said funding for such public investment programmes should get approval from the minister for finance to divert funds from one project to another.
He said bureaucrats should know that they were appointed while the MPs were mandated and there was a clear demarcation and they should respect the law in place, especially the public finance management.
Works Minister Nali said funds allocated through the budget were constitutionally guided and protected.