Armed robbery at PNG Power's Gordon Business Centre

PNG Power Ltd confirms there was an armed robbery at its Gordon Business Centre within the Datec complex around 10 am yesterday (Friday) morning.

“It is believed the motive behind the robbery was to steal money as armed men walked into the office, jumped over the counter and demanded money to be released from the office safe,” said PNG Power CEO Tony Koiri.

“No staff or customers were harmed during the incident.

“The Gordon office is now closed until Monday as staff who were traumatised from the robbery were told to lay off from work until then.

“All customers are therefore informed that the office will re-open again on Monday.

“At this stage, not much information is available into the robbery as PPL and the Police Criminal Investigation Division (CID) are conducting investigations into the matter.

“PNG Power also advises that starting next week, cash payments at all our business centres will be ceased and customers will be asked to make payments through EFTPOS.

“This decision is made in light of the latest incident and will ensure that no big amount of cash is handled at the business centre.

“PNG Power regrets the unfortunate inconvenience caused to its customers who access the Gordon Business Centre.”

The tallest building in Port Moresby

The tallest building in Port Moresby, Steamships' 20-storey Grand Papua Hotel in Downtown Port Moresby.-Pictures by MALUM NALU

Holiday Inn reaches for the skies

Holiday Inn extension work today.-Pictures by MALUM NALU

Holiday Inn apartments take shape

Holiday Inn apartments today

Kairuku-Hiri leaders question MP’s loyalty

By JEFFREY ELAPA

PEOPLE and councillors of the Kairuku-Hiri electorate want the Prime Minister’s People Congress Party (PNC) to endorse their candidate of choice and not Paru Aihi, The National reports.
 Aihi, who won the 2007 election under the PNG Party banner in 2007 after defeating Sir Moi Avei, defected to the National Alliance party early last year where he was given the ministry of Higher Education Science and Technology.
However, the people and councillors are furious that Prime Minister and leader of PNC Peter O’Neill and its executives had accepted Aihi as a member.
They are planning to petition party executives and parliamentary members to endorse the man of their choice today during the PNC national convention in Goroka.
Out of 77 councillors and ward members, 50 of them have signed and submitted a letter to the prime minister to endorse the man “who will represent them come the next five years”.
They said the leader and his executives were aware of the letters submitted to them.
LLG councillors of Hiri, Mekeo, Koiari, Tubusereia and others from Bereina and Yule Island said since the PNC was a party started by the people of Port Moresby and Central, led by the late Sir William Bill Skate, they wanted a say on who the party should endorse as their candidates.
They questioned Ai­hi’s endorsement, noting that he had refused in the past two elections to run as a PNC candidate.
The councillors in a letter to the prime minister had endorsed a man (named) and not any other person to represent them  in the next five years.
They also called on Aihi to explain his mandate and loyalty, whether it was in his business, people or party.
The PNC Party yesterday said they remained open to all intending candidates and they had advised that they would not respond to this to the media but deal with it within the party.
O’Neill has admitted receiving the proposal and letter from the people hesitate to comment

Chief auditor slams state-owned entities

By FRANK SENGE KOLMA

MANY chief executive officers of public bodies and state-owned corporations have no concept of effective, prudent and efficient finance management, the auditor-general has reported, The National reports.
 The report says these are the very essence of accountability and good governance.
The attorney-general disco­vered that 49 out of the 88 public bodies which are subject to audits have not submitted their 2010 financial statements.
This gross negligence, in contravention of section 63 of the Public Finance Management Act, is itself a big improvement from the previous year when 62 financial statements were not made available.
This extends back to 2002.
The attorney-general  report states: “I consider that a large number of chief executive officers do not pay sufficient attention to financial management in their entities.
“In my view, the concept of effective, prudent and efficient finance management is yet to be absorbed by many chief executive officers.”
An entity’s management is responsible for preparing and presenting financial statements for audit inspection.
That being the case, the attorney-general  in its 2010 report, recommends that there be a vigorous enforcement of section 63 of the Public Finance Management Act.
The attorney-general   further recommends that there be legislative requirement to make the renewal of contracts of chief executive officers subject to submission of financial statements and prudent financial management.
“These recommendations,” the attorney-general   states, “are to help achieve accountability and good governance in the public sector.”
Those public bodies that consistently failed to submit financial returns to the attorney-general   are:

• National Narcotic Bureau and PNG Sports Foundation, which share dubious top honours having missed out for seven years in a row;
• Public Curator and Unigor Consultancy Ltd (five  years);
• Tabudubu Ltd and Port Moresby City Development Enterprises Ltd (four years);
• National Economic and Fiscal Commission and National Volunteer Service (three years); and
• The Unitech Development and Consultancy Company Ltd (three years).

The attorney-general said poor financial management had persisted for a long time in the public accounts of Papua New Guinea.
The attorney-general states that the failure by public bodies to comply with this legislative requirement results in:

• The attorney-general  being unable to report adequately on the accountability of the use of public resources in a timely manner;
• A build up of audits in arrears; and
• The non-tabling of annual reports on performance and management by public entities in parliament

Nambawan Super fixes workers’ fund

NAMBAWAN Super has successfully completed the cleanup of Public Employees Association Superannuation Fund (PEASF) in its capacity as the fund’s new trustee and is now in a position to process member entitlements, The National reports.
The PEASF was a voluntary superannuation fund established in 1989 but encountered financial difficulties in the early 2000s.
It was placed under statutory management in June 2006 by the regulator, the Bank of Papua New Guinea.
Subsequently, in May 2010, Nambawan Super was appointed trustee.
“It has taken Nambawan Super 18 months as it undertook the enormous task of fixing up the troubled Fund,” Nambawan Super acting managing director Paul Yangen said yesterday.
“This involved mainly the updating of all accounting and member records in preparation for the final payout of member balances.
“This exercise has now been completed.”
Yangen, on behalf of the trustee, declared a 70% interest on all PEASF accounts based on their current balances.
“This interest declaration represents a significant achievement by Nambawan Super in preserving and protecting the savings balance of the fund and we hope that it helps restore members’ confidence in prudently-managed superannuation as a way of achieving worthwhile long-term savings”, he said.
Yangen thanked all PEASF members for their patience and understanding duringthis exercise.
He also extended the trustee’s appreciation to the BPNG for its assistance, help and guidance.
“The records are now at a point where we can start processing claims,” he said.
“However,  members are asked to refer to the questionnaires and ‘frequently asked questions’ they will have received to work out the best options for their individual situations,” Yangen said.