Ombudswoman continues hitting

hard at Vanuatu’s ‘malpractices’

In the wake of Ferrieux-Patterson s damning reports against officials on the Island nation, the government seems poised to cut hack the ombudswonum’s powers

By Patrick Decloitre

After releasing a damning report early July on an alleged scam of letters of guarantee, Vanuatu’s ombudswoman Marie-Noelle Ferrieux- Patterson, released at the end of the same month another report accusing the main province, Shefa, of misappropriation of funds.

She accused Vanuatu’s main province president of misappropriating over 8 mil lion vatu (SUS7I,OOO) in high salaries, advances and allowances.

In a hard-hitting report made public on July 25, Ferrieux-Patterson alleges funds were misappropriated by Shefa Province President Charlie Kalmet, who she finds in breach of the leadership code and the Decentralisation Act. The Act, passed in 1994, merged the 11 former local govern ment councils, created in 1980 at Vanuatu’s independence, into six

provinces. Elections were held for the new provincia i councils, which started operating end of 1994.

Ferreiuex-Patterson claimed that throughout the 1995 financial year Kalmet got himself a salary of 200,000 (JUSIBOO dollars) per month, “13 raK SpeC ' f ' ed m the “p or {he year? de has a fr e ady

allegedly misappropriated a further

amount 0 f i ,550,000 vatu (SUS 13,300) as at Aprd j 2, 1995,” she adds.

“It appears that (Kalmet) continues to treat t h e shefa p ro vince budget as his own private bank.”

Commenting on the findings of her in quiry, fr, e ombudswoman saicT it was a - sad and s h ame ful catalogue of greed and arro g ance for which no possible justification has emerged ”.

Although admitting he had received a confidential copy of "the report, Kalmet said he had not yet reC eived the public

version. “I’m not in a position to answer questions at the moment,” he said.

The ombudswoman recommends that police resume an inquiry into misappro priation they had started last year but which, strangely, never reached the public prosecutor, and that the Shefa Provincial Y Earlier in July, Ferrieux-Patterson made public a report recommending the dismissal of Finance Minister Barak Sope for taking part, along with Prime Minister Carlot, in an alleged financial scam involving the issuing of 10 letters of guar antee worth SUS 100 million.

Oliver Saksak, Vanuatu’s attorney general, had responded to the report by saying: “Everyone has to respect the law.

Under the constitution, the ombudswom an can release a report but she also has to observe provisions of secrecy.”

Because the report contained classified documents on a politically sensitive mat

ter that could have undesirable effects on the safety of the country, it should not have been made public.

“I think my reports achieve their main aim by becoming public. I think it’s the first time here that some reports are writ ten for the public to know what is hap pening - and written objectively. So, I think that aim has been achieved greater awareness of what has been going on. As far as actions required, we’re fol lowing that closely because the constitu tion requires the prime minister to answer us within a reasonable time.

“But, in the end, if nothing is done, basically, it stays with the people.

“They are aware of what their leaders have done and are doing and, in the end, it’s up to them to elect them again or not.

That’s what our office is here for,”

Ferrieux Patterson said.

“It’s a grassroots office and it’s up to the people to decide. We leave that to them.

“They (the people) don’t take to the streets but there’s no real reason to do this. But we hear from them - our office is in direct contact with the people and we hear a lot of support.”

As a supreme court case into the let ters of guarantee goes on here, Carlot on August 5 deprived Sope of his finance portfolio, making him a commerce and trade minister instead. ■