The Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna is set to get an estimated $116,000 worth of equipment and loan funding from NZAid for his pearl farm in Manihiki, despite an apparent conflict of interest. <\/p>\n
The payment is part of a Grant Funding Arrangement (GFA) signed between the Cook Islands and New Zealand in 2013, which gave $1.7 million to the Cook Islands as part of the Pearl Revitalisation Project. <\/p>\n
A requirement of the GFA was that all conflicts of interest were to be declared to the New Zealand Government. However, Mr Puna's involvement in his pearl farm was not. <\/p>\n
According to a document supplied by the Cook Islands' Ministry of Marine Resources (MMR) in Rarotonga, Mr Puna put in a request for a $38,000 boat, an $18,000 outboard motor and $30,000 worth of building material to upgrade his seeding house. <\/p>\n
The document shows the equipment Mr Puna requested was worth more than twice as much as that asked for by most other pearl farmers. He also requested $18,393.75 as part of an emergency float loan. <\/p>\n
Financial secretary of the Cook Islands Ministry of Finance and Economic Development Richard Neve says the final list of equipment was approved by the Manihiki Pearl Farmers Association (MPFA), which 23 of 24 pearl farmers are members of including Mr Puna. <\/p>\n
\"This equipment has been put out in a series of public tenders ... endorsed by MPFA, and procured by MFED.\" <\/p>\n
Mr Neve disputed that Mr Puna will be receiving over $100,000 worth of financial support, but the document provided by MMR says otherwise. <\/p>\n
The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) said in response to an Official Information Act request that Mr Puna was not on the list of those declared to have a conflict of interest. <\/p>\n
Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully says it is well known that Mr Puna's family is involved in pearl farming. <\/p>\n
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NZAid funds Cook Islands PM's pearl farm<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna is set to get an estimated $116,000 worth of equipment and loan funding from NZAid for his pearl farm in Manihiki, despite an apparent conflict of interest. The payment is part of a Grant Funding Arrangement (GFA) signed between the Cook Islands and New Zealand in 2013, which gave $1.7 million to the Cook Islands as part of the Pearl Revitalisation Project. A requirement of the GFA was that all conflicts of interest were to be declared to the New Zealand Government. Continue reading