PNG public sector still not in order

PUBLIC sector financial control in Papua New Guinea continues to come under scrutiny, but there is also some progress being made to tighten up the system.

Serious management problems in the superannuation sector are being ad dressed, but it is a sign of the distance left to travel that Papua New Guineans have recently been told that more than 30 Government-owned companies do not have their financial records in order.

The acting Auditor General, Lobe Geno, reported to Parliament that in the 1989 financial year 35 companies, subsidiaries of statutory corporations, had not presented their financial state ments for the 1987 and 1988 years.

Geno’s list included some major organis ations: National Provi dent Fund, National

Broadcasting Com

mission, Defence Force Retirement Benefits Fund, Public Officers’

Neglect and carelessness cause problems for teachers

Superannuation Fund and the Papua New Guinea Retirement Benefits Fund these had their 1988 audits in progress. The University of Papua New Guinea currently had its books being audited for the years 1986-88.

Those who had not submitted their 1988 financial records included the Forest Industries Council, the National

Investment and Development Authority

and the Fish Marketing Authority.

Geno also found that the finance committee and managing director of the Investment Corporation of Papua New Guinea had given out more money than it was permitted to, under their em powering legislation. The finance com mittee had authority to authorise invest ments up to K 2 million, and the managing director up to K 500,000.

The acting Auditor General reported that some senior staff of the Investment Corporation were provided with terms and conditions outside the specified terms in the Act, that long service leave had been paid to expatriate contract officers, one senior official was paid

entertainment expenses above his allow ance, and cars owned by the Corporation did not carry the required type of licence

plates.

The Government itself also came under fire. The Teaching Service Con ciliation and Arbitration Tribunal said, when delivering a wage claim decision, that the National Government had failed to control prices in both urban and rural areas. It had heard evidence that price controlled basic consumer items were being sold in rural areas for up to four times their price-controlled retail value.

“The same evidence also shows that the same neglect and careless attitudes of price control agencies are causing the same difficulties for teachers in urban

areas, thus compounding and aggravating further the high cost structure/ wage restraint dilemma of our economy,” said tribunal chairman Alphmclcdy Joel.

In all, the tribunal was

highly critical of the Government’s handling of the wages-prices relation

ship.

But there have been changes at the Public Officers’ Superannuation Fund following the expression of concern and public criticism about how members’ money was being handled. Contributors will now be able to obtain cheaper housing loans, a medical and insurance scheme, and day care centres for working mothers.

Board director Kuama Ariku said the fund had temporarily postponed its Kl 7 million Waigani shopping centre and the K 2.4 million Dagua prawn farm project in East Sepic Province. Instead, the board had opted for the establishment of a child minding centre, a play school and restaurant in Waigani to cater for the large numbers of public sen, ants who are its members.

The prawn farm investment had been shelved when it was found that the Australian principals had not delivered on earlier undertakings. The fund had lost about K 100,000 on the venture. □