Where have the funds gone?

PAPUA New Guinea is known for the most heinous and unspeakable things on Earth.
Who on Earth deprives the vulnerable their right to live in taking away the very essence of life for political power?
Only in the “land of the unexpected”.
It is no secret massive funds poured in for the coronavirus response disappeared without a trace.
There is nothing on the ground to show for all those millions of kina the government acquired locally and abroad.
Money must have simply evaporated on the hot tarmacs of Rita Flynn/Bisini on an overrated feeding programme or, as Treasurer Ian Ling Stuckey put it, “money went on expensive media consultants and hire cars”.
What a stunning revelation by someone inside PM James Marape’s power sanctum.
But there is more to the story than meets the eye. No cover up or smart ploy could ever pull the wool over the eyes of Papua New Guineans these days.
Not even the Facebook darling Brian Kramer’s impartial and make-do look good audit report could come close.
In the wake of emergency fund pillage, it is the sad reality of shanty hospitals and care centres standing bare in dilapidated conditions – devoid of all basic necessities.
“Where has all the money gone?” is the question that keeps coming up.
Are the Covid-19 funds tied to the most ludicrous mantra of making Papua New Guineans millionaires? If so then there is a serious problem.
The emergency funds cannot be one’s honey pot that you can pluck from will to make a few rich.
The itchy fingers of political survival must not claw its way to the emergency funds either.
Don’t tell me the money is making its way to the “war chest” in preparation for the vote of no-confidence in November.
The Covid-19 should not become a political tool for raising money only to expand on political expediency and survival.
The government should implement measures to safeguard emergency funding against misuse and misappropriation.

David Lepi