Manam resettlement funds diverted

MADANG police have been criticised for a lack of action in investigating allegations of fraud and misappropriation of the K6 million for Manam Island Resettlement and Restoration funds.
Bogia MP Robert Naguri told Parliament yesterday that on April 6, the Madang government removed the final balance of the K6mill belonging to the Manam Restoration Authority and diverted it into the Ramu Development Limited, a company established by the provincial government to oversee major projects. He said Manam Restoration Authority resettlement manager Paul Akuruam and Manam Island community leaders laid a complaint with the fraud squad to investigate the removal of the funds.
The officer in charge of criminal investigation division in Madang started the preliminary investigations but a few days into the investigation, a senior police officer from the province stopped the investigations, he said.
Naguri said Manam Islanders had the right to know what happened to funds allocated to them and said the case now involved the Madang government and the office of the provincial police commander.
He wanted police minister and Madang MP Bryan Kramer to take the matter up with Police commissioner Gari Baki.
Kramer said he had no powers to investigate the issues as it was a police matter, however, he had the power to get answers from commissioner Baki on the matter and then take action.