Govt acknowledged for commitment to accountability

TIPNG Chairman Peter Aitsi has commended the Government on taking the first step towards breaking a trend of administrations evading public scrutiny that has plagued PNG emergency public procurement in recent years.  

“It is very encouraging to note that our Government has now made this commitment to table a fully audited COVID-19 SOE funding report at the earliest available opportunity. This demonstrates that they are taking the responsibility to set a better example in the way that emergency public procurement can be managed,” Aitsi said.

“During what has been an unprecedented global experience and given our country’s recent financial woes, we must take every precaution to ensure the most effective and transparent use of the resources at our disposal.”

TIPNG recommends that the commitment should be complemented with several key actions over the next 18 days before the report is expected to be tabled in Parliament. To ensure that tangible transparency and accountability is achieved for the current SOE, TIPNG’s recommendations include:

1. Publish SOE Procurement tenders, bids and contracts on the COVID-19 Information Website.
2. For the NOC-19 to publicly outline the internal process for receiving donations from development partners, business houses and others so that journalists and the public are aware of what will be done with donations.
3. Publish an online public Donations Registry with the corresponding Kina-value of donations, which is updated daily.
4. Publish a public protocol so that all statements by government officials associated with COVID-19 are consolidated and shared through the online website platform (which is free to access on Telikom and Digicel). These statements can then be shared via a link on social media platforms, such as Facebook, by government officials.
5. Resume daily televised media briefings and take questions from the public to instill confidence and trust in the source of information.