The National | February 6th 2024. 

Members of Parliament have been warned to submit acquittals to the Department of Implementation and Rural Development.

Department Secretary Aihi Vaki urged MPs to comply with the law. “MPs need to take responsibility and provide their district and provincial acquittals,” he said.

Vaki said it was routine process which required provincial and district administration to submit the acquittals reports.

The National | February 7th 2024

There is a lack of accountability and monitoring of Service Improvement Program (SIP) funds in the country, as economist says.

Maholopa Laveil, a University of Papua New Guinea School of Business and Public Policy economics lecturer, told The National that the last audit for these funds were carried out more than six years ago.

Source: Gorethy Kenneth | Post Courier, February 2, 2024. 

Head of Auditor-General’s Office (AGO) Gordon Kega said there are challenges in conducting audits of the provincial and district, including LLG Service Improvement (SIP), due to insufficient funding and remoteness of these areas.

February 2 | The National

Billions of Kina in service improvement programmed funds spent since 2008 remain unaudited. 

Of the 22 provinces and, 89 districts and 319 local level government, only six audits have been completed into SIP funding for the years 2017 to 2022 according to a brief from the Auditor General. 

Wednesday 10^th January marks a dark day in PNG’s history. The nation’s capital came under siege, Parliament house stormed, Manasupe’s Haus breeched, the city was pillaged, business houses looted and set aflame after failure to reconfigure what is said to be a technical glitch in the payroll system that caused the Police and public to protest.

Mr. Nicholas Booth / UNDP Resident Representative in Papua New Guinea.*

On Saturday, December 9, 2023 we marked International Anti-Corruption Day. This year, the day was dedicated to raising awareness of the link between anti-corruption and sustainable development. That remains a relevant issue in Papua New Guinea.

The National | January 11, 2024 

The amount of funding pumped into the Government’s Service Improvement Programmes (SIP) has increased dramatically, yet service delivery has been a matter of great concern, University of Papua New Guinea School of business and Public Policy economics lecturer Maholopa Laveil spoke to reporter Jesher Tilto about Sip funds in the country.

Evidence from official government sources suggests the PNG Forest Authority may be breaching a moratorium on new Forest Clearing Authority projects.

A twelve month moratorium on the issuing of new FCAs was announcd by the National Forest Board in February 2023 in response to widespread concerns the licences are being misused.

The PNG Forest Authority has confirmed there are multiple issues affecting the Wammy rural development project in West Sepik province but denies the logging company is misusing its Forest Clearance Authority (FCA).

“Cocoa is raining cash in Sepik”! was the proclamation by Governor for East Sepik Allan Bird on his social media page. 

He went on to say that the growth in his province’s economy will be built by ordinary village people earning a decent income and paying taxes when spending money on goods and services.  

Governor Bird also proudly displayed the receipt from a farmer who sold 8 bags of cocoa and received K6 763.15 in cash.