THE huge amounts of money paid to Members of Parliament this month are for constituencies.
According to a Ministry of Finance and Treasury source, this is the final quarterly payment from the Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) to MPs for their constituencies under the Rural Constituency Development Fund (RCDF).
Reports reaching Solomon Star stated that about 40 MPs were about to receive huge amounts of cash this month as part of their holiday package.
However, the Ministry of Finance and Treasury source said this quarterly payment from MRD to MPs is purposely for administration work on constituencies’ projects.
The amount being processed for payment ranges between $200,000 to $300,000.
The source said normally payments from the MRD are made to constituencies’ accounts and not to MPs.
This means only the Constituency Development Officer (CDO), the Constituency Project Officer (CPO) and the constituency accountant will receive the money under the signatory of the MP purposely for projects, the source said.
By AATAI JOHN
