It has been revealed in the parliament of the autonomous Papua New Guinea province, Bougainville, that officials have diverted funds to buy cars.
The Minister of Finance, Albert Punghau, says 423,000 US dollars were diverted from the 2012 budget appropriation by officers outside of the normal system.
The newspaper, The National, reports Mr Punghau as saying the funds would be returned and the staff concerned dealt with.
He says what they did was illegal and should not be repeated.
