PM orders urgent audit

PRIME Minister James Marape has directed the Auditor-General to conduct an urgent audit into the spending by the departments of Finance, National Planning, and Works and Highways.
This is in response to recent disbursements of funds by the three departments.
“I have written to the Auditor-General to preside over an urgent audit into spending by Finance, National Planning and Works and Highways departments,” Marape said in a statement on Thursday.
“These three key state departments have been responsible for huge disbursements of public funds recently. This is not to say that they are wrong. However, it is to point out to the people that we ensure that funds are spent properly and work is being done.
“For instance, Ialibu-Pangia MP Peter O’Neill has been criticising public works, claiming that one contractor has been paid K3 billion. “We have already given instructions to the Auditor-General, to carry out a public audit into the Department of Works and Highways. “We have also called for a thorough audit in departments of Finance and National Planning, to ascertain how they have been spending their allocated funds.
“Our citizens must be assured that, as government, we are not here to syphon off funds or perk off budgets.”