Nothing ‘fishy’ about Manus fishery funding

THE National Alliance (NA) party Manus branch has cleared the air over misleading information related to a fisheries project and repairs on MV Manus.
They said the funds for these two projects were obtained correctly and not through dubious means.
The branch responded after EMTV News reported former politician, Sinai Brown, as saying the project funds were obtained through “fishy” means.
A joint statement, released by the branch Parliamentary leader and Governor Michael Sapau, the chairman Francis Posanau and branch secretary Hillary Malai, said Mr Brown had misled the public.
They said the two projects were well documented and presented to the National Planning Office.
According to the statement, the fisheries project was approved by National Executive Council (NEC) for funding in the 2010 Budget under the coastal fisheries programme.
They said they were thankful for the support of the Somare Government for starting to honour some commitments of the K140 million to Manus during the NEC meeting on the island in 2008.
The three leaders said compared to other island region provinces, Manus had received little benefits over the years in terms of support for its rich marine resources, including fisheries.
“Now we have been given the opportunity to develop the fisheries sector.
“We are grateful to the Government, Planning Minister Paul Tiensten, the Fisheries Minister and others who have assisted us in securing the K10 million funding,” they said.
They agreed that Manus was now poised to develop its vast fisheries sector to gain meaningful results.
They have collectively called on Mr Brown to apologise for his misleading comments.