Funding to MPs is not accounted for
25 April 2025
EDDIE TANAGO
| Act Now!
given to MPs are used for legitimate projects, not stolen
for personal use (Bing AI generated image)
PORT MORESBY – We at Act Now welcome the Papua New Guinea government’s announcement of extra funding for the Department of Implementation and Rural Development (DIRD) to allow the physical inspection of district projects funded under the Service Improvement Program.
Physical inspections will assure the government that the multi-million dollars handed out to PNG's members of parliament are used for legitimate projects and not diverted for personal use.
Recently many districts have rushed to submit their 2024 acquittals after the Ombudsman Commission threatened to hold MPs and DDA CEOs accountable under the Leadership Code.
But only one district has made its acquittal report available for public scrutiny.
DIRD and other departments, including the Auditor-General and Ombudsman Commission, must ensure greater openness and transparency so current information voids are fixed and public trust instilled.
On 17 April, DIRD announced that 50 districts had failed to submit acquittals for 2024. These districts are in breach, an indication of a serious malfunction in accountability.
This lack of accountability and transparency in the use of public funds remains a huge problem.
Politicians and public servants in positions of trust need to be held responsible and punished.
PNG must not deny service delivery to its people when there is zero visibility in planning, budgeting, implementation and reporting of activities and funds meant for the majority of the population.
Despite increased funding under district service improvement program (DSIP), there is a gross lack of accountability and transparency in the management of these funds.
A review by Act Now has revealed that most districts do not have a five year plan, most financial acquittals are outstanding and almost all districts are not audited.
It is also worrying that government departments with responsibility for overseeing the spending of service and infrastructure funds are poorly funded themselves and handicapped in performing their roles.
These include key departments like the Auditor-General’s Office and the Department of Implementation and Rural Development.
The Ombudsman Commission must come down hard on District CEOs and MPs to send a strong message to other non-performing office holders that they will be called to account for their failures.
Every time I have contacted an Ombudsman in Australia the specific issue is beyond their scope.
Posted by: Bernard Corden | 25 April 2025 at 04:08 PM
I believe it would be fair to say this has been a slush fund from Day 1.
In the days when I was associated with the then Office of Rural Development – now the Department of Implementation and Rural Development – the office employed two engineers whose role it was to inspect and report on the construction and sign off of district infrastructure projects (buildings and roads).
My role, based exclusively in Port Moresby, was to receive and vet their reports before approving further expenditure. It was supposed to ensure transparency.
That became a little problematic when I received reports that read something like: “We travelled one kilometre along the new fifteen km road extension and got two '“tyre punch” [sic.] So, we return to (name of location withheld) and flew back to Port Moresby. Over to you Mr Managing Agent.”
“We travelled 500m along the new (name of major rural road withheld) and had to stop because of a land slide over the road. There was a local man on the other side who told us the rest of the twenty-three km upgrade was good. Over to you Mr Managing Agent.”
Then there were the innumerable building projects such as police bases, classrooms and aid posts accompanied by an engineer’s report that went something like,
“Due to tribal fighting, or it was not safe to go any further or the dinghy we were supposed to hire did not turn up, (fill in the next one yourself), we were unable to visit the site. But the contractor gave us some pictures, attached, and the building looks good for final approval and payment. Over to you Managing Agent.”
The only problem with the pictures was that this time they were taken from a different angle of another building we had already approved for payment.
If it wasn’t so sad it would have been hilariously funny and the subject of an entertaining book.
That generation of MP has now retired or passed on and I will not speak ill of any of them. They deserved respect.
I did have occasion to sit with quite a few who candidly explained the pressure placed upon them to "bend" the rules and meet the expectations of shall we say certain powerful parties (names also withheld) that ensured the electorate had voted for them. Many were pushed into corners they had little control over. I did not envy them one bit.
Two decades plus later has anything fundamentally changed. No it has not, the same clash of cultural perspectives prevails.
There is an apocryphal expression attributed to Einstein which goes something like, "the definition of insanity is to repeat the same thing over and over while hoping for a different result".
So, given the apparent sudden rush of transparency, who is kidding who?
Posted by: Stephen Charteris | 25 April 2025 at 12:47 PM
Real steel in stop the steal
reveal deal, squelch all squeal
Seal each feel, thems ought kneel
Peel meal, bring them to heel
See all truth, cut their spiel.
Posted by: Lindsay F Bond | 25 April 2025 at 10:53 AM
Yeah! Pigs might fly. The ongoing electronic Oink Oink Express tay secret overseas bank accounts fray PNG's Ali Babas.
Posted by: William-Dunlop | 25 April 2025 at 10:18 AM