Minister for Culture and Tourism Samuel Manetoali has revealed the country had spent millions of dollars million to host the 2012 11th Festival of Pacific Arts (FOPA).
Responding to questions from MP for Central Guadalcanal Peter Channel in Parliament yesterday, Mr Manetoali said the country had spent about $195 million for the event.
The Minister said his Ministry has no records on the auctioning of FOPA items since all proceeds has gone and paid through the Ministry of Finance.
“When the properties were sold through auctioning, all the proceeds went to the Ministry of Finance.”
He said the reason for the amount is due to extra claims apart from the original budget to host the festival.
