PNG Foreign Affairs Minister Pruaitch condemns O'Neill's Questioning of COVID-19 Funds
Papua New Guinea Foreign Affairs Minister Patrick Pruaitch has urged former Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to get his priorities right when he picks on Covid-19 to criticize misuse of public funds.
Mr. Pruaitch said the former Prime Minister has failed to cooperate with the Commission of Inquiry into his government’s K3 billion UBS loan scandal, where funds lost are 130 times greater than the initial K23 million Covid-19 budget.
“Misuse and misappropriation during Mr. O’Neill’s term of office was so great multiple inquiries would not be able to discover how much public money was lost.”
Mr. Pruaitch, who is leader of the National Alliance Party, said if the Marape-Stevens Government had limitless resources to investigate inflated contracts and misappropriated funds, such inquiries would last more than the full term of any single government.
“We also know hundreds of millions of kina were lost in connection with hosting of the APEC Summit, including purchase of luxury cars that were never used for the purpose and are unsuited to PNG roads.
“Before that, huge sums were lost in connection with the Pacific Games. In the normal course of the year there would be many examples of over-inflated costs for all kinds of publicly funded projects.
“Then there was the Manumanu lands scandal where the findings of a public inquiry were swept under the carpet so that those guilty of misappropriation and wrongdoing could never be charged.
“While I was Opposition Leader, I raised the issue of K8 million that was spent on car hire in the wake of the February 2018 Highlands earthquake, during which time government presence in the devastated area was almost non-existent. No explanation on use of these funds was ever forthcoming.”
Mr. Pruaitch questioned what the nation had to show for the K20 billion or more the O’Neill Government had borrowed during the decade it spent in office.
“Rather than questioning the possible misuse of Covid-19 funds, Mr. O’Neill should be hanging his head in shame for the billions that his government will never account for,” he said.
Statement/FM100/PNGToday
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Mr. Pruaitch said the former Prime Minister has failed to cooperate with the Commission of Inquiry into his government’s K3 billion UBS loan scandal, where funds lost are 130 times greater than the initial K23 million Covid-19 budget.
“Misuse and misappropriation during Mr. O’Neill’s term of office was so great multiple inquiries would not be able to discover how much public money was lost.”Mr. Pruaitch, who is leader of the National Alliance Party, said if the Marape-Stevens Government had limitless resources to investigate inflated contracts and misappropriated funds, such inquiries would last more than the full term of any single government.
“We also know hundreds of millions of kina were lost in connection with hosting of the APEC Summit, including purchase of luxury cars that were never used for the purpose and are unsuited to PNG roads.
“Before that, huge sums were lost in connection with the Pacific Games. In the normal course of the year there would be many examples of over-inflated costs for all kinds of publicly funded projects.
“Then there was the Manumanu lands scandal where the findings of a public inquiry were swept under the carpet so that those guilty of misappropriation and wrongdoing could never be charged.
“While I was Opposition Leader, I raised the issue of K8 million that was spent on car hire in the wake of the February 2018 Highlands earthquake, during which time government presence in the devastated area was almost non-existent. No explanation on use of these funds was ever forthcoming.”
Mr. Pruaitch questioned what the nation had to show for the K20 billion or more the O’Neill Government had borrowed during the decade it spent in office.
“Rather than questioning the possible misuse of Covid-19 funds, Mr. O’Neill should be hanging his head in shame for the billions that his government will never account for,” he said.
Statement/FM100/PNGToday
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