Public accounts opening deferred to Monday

By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK
THE opening of the public accounts for 2019 has been deferred to Monday to allow for the tidying up of last year’s accounts, according Finance Minister James Marape, pictured.
The public accounts should have been opened on Monday this week as he had announced last year.
“We have deferred the opening by one week. We need to tidy up how we closed the 2018 public accounts,” he said.
Marape met staff of the department at Vulupindi Building in Port Moresby yesterday.
He stressed that the National Procurement Act was now in effect for the year and called on the National Procurement Commission to make the legislation work.
“I want that law to come in this year. And by the closure of 2019, I want the list of all local contractors involved in State projects.”
Marape said he was fed up with foreign-owned companies taking up projects which local companies could handle.
“Under the new Act, local companies can bid for any infrastructure contract, or goods and service-providing contract of up to K10 million,” he said.
“Anything between K10 million and K30 million is for a joint local-foreign venture. And there have to be evidences of that joint partnership.
“We need to have local contractors heavily involved in the building and road construction projects going on in the country. We cannot just stand and watch foreign-owned companies coming in and doing projects that local contractors can do.”
Marape also urged his staff to avoid corrupt practices this year.