Monies allocated by the national government for the COVID-19 response in the Bulolo District has been diverted to address transport issues in the district.
Member for Bulolo, Sam Basil confirmed this following concerns raised by the Bulolo District Development Authority CEO, Tae Gwambalek last week saying almost K2 million of the COVID-19 money given to the District by the Government was misused.
Gwambalek said most of the money was used to fund projects in the district that was supposed to be funded from the DSIP funds.
Gwambelek said he only signed the first batch of the COVID-19 funds before he was notified of his sideling by the Member for Bulolo, Sam Basil.
Basil confirmed today that the Covid-19 funds were used for transportation during the lockdown in order to assist farmers and villagers to improve their livelihood.
In March this year, more than K600 million was allocated by the National Government to utilize during the SOE following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Also in 2018, K450 million was allocated for disaster relief in the Southern Highlands following an earthquake.
However, the government is yet to furnish a report to the 8 million plus people of PNG on how the SOE funds were managed.
