By Theckla Gunga – EMTV News, Port Moresby
Justin Tkatchenko, former Minister responsible for APEC 2018 PNG, says the delay in tabling the APEC 2018 Report in parliament is because of the processes involved in completing the report.
He explained that the APEC Coordination Authority is in charge and responsible for completing the Report and submitting to him to table in parliament.
Tkatchenko said part of the delay lies with the Department of Finance, which is responsible for the outstanding claims of payments for suppliers and contractors who had provided their services during the APEC Leader’s Summit.
“The Department of Finance did not eventuate in paying all the outstanding suppliers and contractors for their services rendered”
On top of that, Tkatchenko says, the Auditor General’s Audit Tender Committee is yet to appoint an independent auditor to balance out all the finances.
The report is an outline on all activities undertaken by the APEC 2018 Papua New Guinea Coordination Authority, including the total government expenditure on hosting the Leader’s Summit and its related forums, also aiming to state the achievements of hosting the event.
A further issue compounding the delay is the much-talked-about luxury vehicles that had cost the national government millions of kina are waiting to go on tender, according to the former minister.
He says though the Finance Department had announced tender for these luxury vehicles, it had not yet established a reserved price.
“The disposal of APEC vehicles now lies with the Department of Finance, a public tender was issued for the Maseratis and Bentleys under the (APEC) Act and the delay in process of disposal under the tender is because unfortunately, the Department of Finance did not put a reserved price. They issued a tender, which was an expression of interest and then that did not allow for the proper process to be conducted and the recouping of the funding, we require and we started from day one”
The APEC Coordination Authority has been given 12 months to complete the report and have it tabled in parliament, seven months of this timeframe has elapsed so far.
