Kumarasiri welcomes probe

By SALLY TIWARI
AIR Niugini is happy with the Task Force Sweep team conducting investigations into allegations of missing engines levelled against the airline.
Chief executive officer Wasantha Kumarasiri said Air Niugini had nothing to hide and would co-operate with the team.
He asked task force chairman Sam Koim to start the investigation as soon as possible.
Kumarasiri said Air Niugini was ready to provide all information, including documentation and physical checks of facilities where the alleged engines and engine parts were located.
He thanked Minister for State Enterprise Sir Mekere Morauta for referring the allegations to the Task Force
Sweep team.
The initial allegations published by a newspaper related to the purchase of two aircraft engines, sale of an auxiliary power unit and spare parts.
Since the publication last week, Kumarasiri responded to all claims, providing documentation proving the engines had arrived in Port Moresby and were not missing
as alleged.
In a press conference last Friday, he said the recent six allegations published were a diversion from the initial allegations.
He provided documents to the media to rebut the allegations.
The allegations were that:
l    F28-4000 engine was not needed because the F28 aircraft was phased out in 2004-5;
l    Two auditors were promoted to conceal investigations into the alleged missing engines;
l    Alleged engine purchase requisition T73200 was raised by an employee;
l    Only one and not five managers signed to buy the engine in question in breach of regulations; and
l    Transfer of funds in line with the purchase of the engine
was suspicious.
Kumarasiri denied receiving any official audit report on the allegation of the missing engines as claimed yesterday by a newspaper.
He said although a direction was issued some time back for a review as part of continuous internal assessment within the airline, the internal auditor left the department without completing the task.
“The draft report, in its current status, has considerable inaccuracies due to
many documents not pro­perly verified,” he said.
His response came after the same newspaper published it had in its possession the internal audit report that uncovered numerous financial irregularities.