President calls for probe into NBPOL trust fund

By PILA WASU
Hoskins local level government president Felix Umari  has alleged that the people of West New Britain have been led to think that the NBPOL trust fund sale dividend was a “windfall”.
Commenting on behalf of all LLG presidents and stakeholders in the Talasea electorate and the province, Umari said a full report on the sale, which was carried out through the London and Port Moresby stock exchange by a professional accounting firm, had been completed and it was up to the stakeholders  to action the recommendations contained in the report.
He said the report had records of how the fund was traded and how some leaders and trust fund representatives were involved in the sale deal.
Umari said the report also showed private bank accounts and different transactions that took place after the so-called “windfall”.
He said all 11 local governments of West New Britain were still waiting for financial support from the NBPOL trust fund to fund their programmes.
“Can Governor Peter Humpreys explain the fraud allegations highlighted by the report to the people of West New Britain?
“The report found that inside trading was involved in the share sale, where playmakers received huge commissions for their illegal actions.
“The earlier report by the governor and his provincial administration in the media last year was just a narrow audit that did not touch the core issues of matters highlighted in this report by the accounting firm,” Umari said.
He said questions had also been raised over the purchase of certain high profile properties in Port Moresby and Kimbe including the ship mv Athemus.
“The value of the properties bought were inflated to benefit dealers as they received their commission and kickbacks,” he said.
Umari said the governor, who preached about accountability, including the anti-corruption march in Kimbe last year, should tell the people of West New Britain about the sale and whether  anyone had received any kickbacks from the sale.