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The use of an open Local Purchase Order by the ousted Minister for Women Asenaca Caucau to Suncourt Hardware has been termed ‘a very serious case to defraud the Government’.
The LPO was for the purchase of roofing iron for the Nakorolevu Housing Project.
Of concern was that the order was an open one and was written out just before the 2006 general elections.
This was revealed in the latest report submitted by the Public Accounts Committee.
Furthermore, according to their findings, the purchase order was issued to the minister from the Small Grants section of the Prime Minister’s office on November 30, 2005.
“To aggravate the situation, the balance in the fund was far less than the order.”
The committee added that this was a blatant use of public funds to finance a development in Caucau’s own village and to gain political milage.
The PAC’s report was distributed to all media outlets yesterday.
