Tammur says nothing wrong with treasury bill

THE controversial sovereign community infrastructure treasury bill is for development purposes and there is nothing wrong with that, member for Kokopo Patrick Tammur said yesterday.
He told parliament, as the minister and member for Kokopo and sponsor of the project, he had been accused of forgery and many unfounded accusations over the treasury bill.
He said that he had done everything according to the law and the issue of the treasury bill was covered under the 1974 Treasury Bill Act.
He said the SCITB “is a special Treasury Bill like the ones issued previously under Sir Julius Chan when Sir Mekere Morauta was the treasurer for two different projects, the Poreporena Freeway and the Oil Palm industry, and which the two major superfunds in the country invested in to ensure the projects were completed”.
He said the special treasury bill under the treasury bill Act issued by the former Treasurer Patrick Pruaitch “is different”.
Tammur said the controversy and publicity “are based on politics and not the reality of the situation”.
He said the treasury bill was issued under the treasury bill Act of 1974 which allowed the minister to borrow as the minister considered appropriate and was used to obtain the loan.
 “The SCITB is a treasury bill and not a treasury bond which have different instruments and characters,” he said.
Tammur said the Treasury Bill Act did not require the Central Bank to act as an agent “as there is no legislation which gives the bank exclusive authority”.
He said he had taken and followed all due processes in tendering all the projects funded by the instruments for his people.
Tammur said, so far under the Bill, a road network was built to connect Kokopo and Pomio for the first time and a water supply project in the town.
He said that was development at its best and the money had not been misused.
Tammur said the development had seen the social and economic standard of people rise on a massive scale.
He said the project had allowed villages to reopen, churches to be established and the community becoming more close-knit.