Maserati Quattroporte sedans

APEC luxury vehicles on tender

Out of the 40 Maserati and 3 Bentleys, two Maserati and a Bentley have been sold, generating a K1.6 million revenue for the State.

The remaining two Bentleys were allocated to the Office of the Governor General and the Office of the Prime Minister for official purposes.

Pundari also confirmed that the remaining 38 Maserati were re-tendered and are now open to both national and international bidders.

He said: “This is still in the vetting process and awarding of successful bidders will follow shortly after.”

MP calls for probe into APEC luxury cars scandal

“Enough public information, gathered by myself and others, is now available to justify high-level investigations into the spending by the Prime Minister, Mr Peter O’Neill, the APEC Minister, Mr Justin Tkatchenko, and the APEC Authority CEO, Mr Christopher Hawkins,” Sir Mekere said in a statement today.

“This information indicates a strong likelihood that the Leadership Code, the Constitution, the Criminal Code and other laws have been broken.

Kramer on Maserati purchase

Opposition MP Bryan Kramer said this covers, but is not limited to, polio outbreak, collapsing health systems and teachers’ payment issues.

In an interview with this newsroom, Kramer said ironically, when these luxury sedans arrived in the country last week, thousands of teachers received unexplained pay cuts in the same fortnight.

Kramer alleged that the vehicles were procured by a Sir Lankan company called Ideal Choice on behalf of the Government. He estimated the vehicles to be at a market value of around K40 million.

APEC CEO responds to Senator Hanson

His response follows Hanson’s viral ‘Please Explain’ Facebook video, where she succinctly expressed herself following the PNG Government’s purchase of 40 Maserati cars for the APEC leaders.

Hawkins said: “The cars being used for APEC will be purchased by the private sector so there is no cost to Government and have absolutely nothing to do with foreign support.

“I do not know how we can make it any simpler for the Senator to understand.

PM O’Neill clears air on Maserati vehicles

This will be conducted in a transparent process right after the APEC Leaders’ meet.

PM O’Neill said the Government is doing nothing secret but is prepared to host a successful APEC Summit next month.

When asked by this newsroom to give a response to a statement by Australian politician, Pauline Hanson, in regard to the 40 Maserati bought by the Government, he said he does not respond to racist Australian politicians who have no idea about our country.

Luxury sedans raise concerns

The pricing of the Maserati Quattroporte sedans start from US$209,990 (K683,000), according to the car manufacturer.

The Italian model vehicles arrived in the country last weekend.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit leaders week is approximately a month away and the preparation is well underway to host the 21 economy leaders in Port Moresby.

However, numerous concerns have been raised with regard to the huge amount of funds spent by the Government on preparations alone.