Uncollected pokies take irks Tutumang

 NON-collection of revenue from pokies machines in Lae has upset members of the Tutumang (Morobe Provincial Assembly) after it was not listed in the province’s revenue section of the budget listings.

Morobe Governor Kelly Naru, when providing the budget breakdown, noted that the collections were not included in the revenue section for 2016.

“We need to collect these revenues,” Naru said.

“Otherwise, we might as well shut down all the pokies outlets in Lae.”

Naru said there were a good number of businesses in Lae that operated pokies and they needed to pay gaming tax for the machines.

“I see no reason why we should not collect this revenue,” he said.

Naru tasked the provincial administration to do more and coordinate to be able to collect the revenue.

Naru said Morobe’s revenue improved over the years but there was more to be done.

“We note that our revenue projections and collections over the last three years have improved, we have been on target and collected more than 98 per cent of the estimated total,” he said.