Shipping grants application touches off flurry of denials of wrongdoings

 

A report on alleged network targeting the Government’s yearly multi-million dollar shipping grants has touched off a flurry of activities with denials and counter denials of wrong doing.

Comments from the Minister of Infrastructure Development, Hon Jimmy Lusibaea MP, suggest a group of groups of individuals are colluding with officials in the Ministry to access the grants.

At least two groups that succeeded in their applications last year also submitted applications this year. One succeeded.

Interim Vice President of the Kadere Party and private businessman, Vincent Anisi, yesterday confirmed having received a grant for $3 million to buy a ship from abroad.

But the ship failed inspection assessments by two local marine engineers including one from the Government’s maritime regulatory agency, SIMSA.

As a result, Mr Anisi said he had no choice but to lodge a fresh application for funding under the grants’ Ship’s Purchase category this year. The government had set aside $78 million in this year’s budget for shipping grants.

Funding falls under three categories – Assistance to Ships’ operators, Assistance to local Shipbuilders and Assistance for Ship’s Purchase.

Mr Anisi said he was disappointed that a progressive report on the 2016 grants he submitted last December never reached Minister Lusibaea. The Minister said he had blocked the application by Mr Anisi’s company this year because there was no report on last year’s grants.

Mr Anisi was to have provided a copy of his final report to this paper yesterday but this was not done.

“I am not angry because I have nothing to hide,” he told Island Sun yesterday.

“If there’s any disappointment on my part it is the fact that politicians have now politicised the grants,” the Langa Langa businessman said.

John Beui Lamani is another, who denied any wrongdoing, saying he lodged an official application for $1.5 million in 2016.

“The $1 million that I had received was spent as intended,” Mr Beui said.

“Of this amount $500,000 was used to buy the fishing boat owned by George Satu of Fishing Village. Initially he was asking for $700,000 not $1.5 million as reported,” Mr Beui said.

“But I negotiated the price down to $500,000. So in the end Mr Satu actually sold the boat for only $450,000 as the balance was used to pay for repairs,” he said.

Mr Beui said the balance of the grants was used to buy two 40hp outboard motors and a small boat with a deck and a capacity to carry 10 large Eskies to support fishing activities being undertaken by the boat he bought off Mr Satu.

A further $70,000 was used to buy a 15hp OBM and a canoe.

He promised to provide a copy of the bill of sale for the boat today (Thursday) as he was unable to locate it.

Island Sun was informed that Mr Satu had refused to sign the bill of sale until the amount of money owing to him was settled.