LEADER of Opposition Matthew Wale has called on the police to initiate immediate criminal investigations into the Economic Stimulus Package (ESP) report.
In a statement today, Wale said investigations must proceed with technical support for police in financial expertise for the investigations.
Auditor General David Dennis released the report last week, which his office produced on the ESP – $309 million funding scheme the last Sogavare government initiated in 2021 to address the negative impacts of COVID-19 on the economy.
The audit report revealed major fraud risk, poor to non-existent administrative controls and almost zero transparency in the disbursement of the $309 million.
Responding to the report, Wale said the findings are “deeply troubling”.
He said that the report provides sufficient evidence for police to proceed with criminal investigations.
“Pursue every lead,” the Opposition Leader said.
He said his office has been informed that some very senior politicians and government officials are implicated in the report findings.
Wale said that no one is above accountability and urged the Police to resist any pressures that might compromise the integrity of the investigations.
Wale commended the Auditor General and his officers for their diligent work producing a very clear report that point towards serious misappropriation of public funds.
The Opposition Leader urged the public to remain interested and engaged in the ESP investigations to ensure they are conducted thoroughly and transparently.
Wale expressed his office’s anticipation for the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) when it will delve into the details of the ESP report at the appropriate time.
The Opposition Leader also encouraged the AG to apply the same level of diligence with the Pacific Games special audit.
“We cannot continue to sit back and watch whilst these evil deeds are happening,” he said.
Auditor General Dennis said the ESP lacked underlying legislative or procedure guidance for issuing grants on the scale involved for such funds.
“This is coupled with the allocation of insufficient resources needed to adequately receive, process, pay and document the thousands of applications, led to weak internal controls.
“This weakness in administrative controls, combined with missing documentation led to a very serious lack of transparency as to how ESP funds were dispersed and ultimately used.
“In most cases there was little or no documentation so it was not always possible to determine whose hands the funds ended up in or how they were actually used.”