O’Neill calls on Western to manage funds better

PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill has called on the provincial administration in Western to manage funds better and provide services to the people.
He told Parliament the continuous mismanagement of funds in Western had resulted in funds being kept in trust accounts to avoid wastage.
O’Neill was replying to questions by Western Governor Taboi Awi Yoto on the funding allocations for the province.
He said Western was getting a very good equity dividend because the Government gave them a free carry of one-third of the Ok Tedi ine.
Western received K100 million in dividend for the first time.
O’Neill said more than K200mil was still in trust accounts.
“Part of these funds are parked in courts trust accounts because of various mitigations taken on by different parties from Western,” he said
“Those funds are ear-marked for infrastructure and projects to deliver services in the province.
“That is more money than many of the other provinces in the country have. But it must be managed well for the people’s benefit.”
O’Neill said the funds were allocations by the Government from tax revenue and dividends received from Ok Tedi.
“The political leadership of Western needs to organise itself and manage these funds so that services that our people are demanding are delivered,” he said.