Sulliman hopeful of positive outcome

National, Normal

AUDITOR-General George Sulliman is hopeful that a two-day regional meeting in Port Moresby will raise the level accountability as well as “connect all the Pacific countries together”.
Mr Sulliman, who hosted the 26-member Pacific Association of Supreme Audit Institutions (PASAI) governing board meeting at Crowne Plaza, said they also looked at the Pacific plan initiative which included the Pacific Regional Audit Initiative.
He said yesterday the second of the series of meetings is done to properly govern the implementation of projects as part of the Pacific plan.
“These meetings will raise the level of accountability in the country and to connect all the Pacific countries together,” Mr Sulliman said.
The PRAI’s objective is to raise Pacific public auditing to uniformly high standards.
“This in turn will contribute to good governance through improved transparency, accountability and efficiency in managing and using public resources in the Pacific.
For this meeting only five countries are involved – PNG, the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Micronesia and New Zealand.
He said PASAI has been in existence for a long time, as for the regional board, it has been here since 1987 and is made up of seven countries including the Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia, American states, Australia and New Zealand.
Mr Sulliman says at the regional level, PNG is in discussion on waste management system and the risks it poses to the community and how best NCD Governor Powes Parkop and his team are doing to address it.
“We are having these meetings so that we share our experiences and help each other by seeing and learning from each other,” he said.
The participants have gone through skills development plan and hopefully can “make a difference” in the Pacific and most importantly, for the country.