MALAITA province premier Daniel Suidani has responded to serious allegations raised at the recent motion of No-confidence again him and his government.
He made these responses in his revised budget 2020/2021 speech on the floor of the Provincial assembly on Friday 16th October.
He said the announcement of 25 million US dollars was made by the United State Government through its state department and not the MARA government as misunderstood.
“Like I briefly mentioned during the motion, it is the US government that decided on where it will spend its tax payer’s money and not me as the premier of Malaita Province.
“As leaders, we must get our facts right before we start to accuse each other. The allegation of finance mismanagement through a PARU account. If one looks at the MARA government budget that is passed by this assembly, there were four legal accounts operate by the province namely the main account, the PCDF account, the salary account, and the term deposit account. These are active accounts where cheques are made through and as provided for in the MYOB system.”
He said the third issue is on barricading investors.
“In fact, this is also another wrong assumption. The MARA government is working to safeguard and protect Malaitans and their people from dishonest businesses that include dirty loggers. This is our home and being a responsible government we must protect the interest of our people.
“I can understand why some MPAs are complaining because they support such illegal activities. No wonder that is why past Malaita Provincial Government had failed its people,” the premier said.
He said another serious allegation is that the current provincial secretary was acting illegally by continuing to work and signing the cheque.
He said that information is wrong and misleading.
“If the PS is no longer working for Malaita Province then why is he still receiving his salary, why is the MPGSI still acknowledging him as PS for Malaita Province, why is other partners and donors still contacting him for the development of Malaita Province?
He clarified that the Provincial Secretary of Malaita was asked to remain in his duty by the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Provincial Government Institutional Strengthening.
“ For this, I call upon leaders not to spread false accusations and be misled,” Suidani said.
He further explained that MARA government have conducted the financial affairs of the province according to legal instrument and advice.
“I fact the re-allocation of budget lines without the assembly was based on advice received by the MPGIS. All formalities involving PDOC were done thus warranting this exercise.
“This also includes the Auki betel nut market where some MPAs were complaining about. The MARA government is not acting outside of this legal advice.
“Thus, I will again as members that if you are unsure of anything the MARA government has engaged in please come and talk to us for an explanation instead of spreading false assumption,” the premier said.
