Airservices 'regrets' irregular payments
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Airservices 'regrets' irregular payments
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...-23349,00.html
THE government-owned Airservices Australia has said it regrets making more than $2 million in irregular payments in Solomon Islands at the request of local government officials, who were also given cash advances on company credit cards.
A report by the Solomons Auditor-General into the series of more than 300 payments has reportedly concluded Honiara could take legal action against Australia as a result.
News of the report could prove uncomfortable for John Howard, who leaves today for the South Pacific Forum in Fiji, which will also be attended by his Solomons counterpart Manasseh Sogavare.
Airservices Australia spokesman Terry O'Connor said the company regretted the payments, which were made between 1999 and 2003 to a number of third parties nominated by senior Solomons government officials.
"With the benefit of hindsight, those payments should not have been made, but the Airservices staff at the time believed they were authorised (to do so) by the correct officials," Mr O'Connor said. "OK, the management of the contract wasn't necessarily up to standard. We believe we have changed those processes.
Airservices has a contract to provide high-level air traffic control services for aircraft flying over the Pacific nation.
The fees collected from these airlines are forwarded to a specified Solomon Islands government bank account.
At the request of government officials, however, Airservices agreed to transfer about a fifth of these payments to third parties, including individuals and other government bank accounts. Airservices credit cards were also used to provide cash advances to ministers, with the company reimbursing itself from the balance of the fee revenue it collected.
A report from the Australian National Audit Office last week found the payments were outside the terms of the contract but that Airservices had not made them to seek any commercial benefit.
A separate investigation by the Australian Federal Police found no evidence of criminal activity.
The entire Airservices management board had changed in the years since the final payment, Mr O'Connor said.
A report by the Solomons Auditor-General into the series of more than 300 payments has reportedly concluded Honiara could take legal action against Australia as a result.
News of the report could prove uncomfortable for John Howard, who leaves today for the South Pacific Forum in Fiji, which will also be attended by his Solomons counterpart Manasseh Sogavare.
Airservices Australia spokesman Terry O'Connor said the company regretted the payments, which were made between 1999 and 2003 to a number of third parties nominated by senior Solomons government officials.
"With the benefit of hindsight, those payments should not have been made, but the Airservices staff at the time believed they were authorised (to do so) by the correct officials," Mr O'Connor said. "OK, the management of the contract wasn't necessarily up to standard. We believe we have changed those processes.
Airservices has a contract to provide high-level air traffic control services for aircraft flying over the Pacific nation.
The fees collected from these airlines are forwarded to a specified Solomon Islands government bank account.
At the request of government officials, however, Airservices agreed to transfer about a fifth of these payments to third parties, including individuals and other government bank accounts. Airservices credit cards were also used to provide cash advances to ministers, with the company reimbursing itself from the balance of the fee revenue it collected.
A report from the Australian National Audit Office last week found the payments were outside the terms of the contract but that Airservices had not made them to seek any commercial benefit.
A separate investigation by the Australian Federal Police found no evidence of criminal activity.
The entire Airservices management board had changed in the years since the final payment, Mr O'Connor said.
Australians in 'fraud' report
Dan Box and Darren Willsher
October 26, 2006
SOLOMON Islands is investigating whether two Australians should face trial for possible fraud linked to $2 million in irregular payments made by the Australian government-owned company Airservices Australia.
The two are Hugh Ritchie, managing director of Aviation Consultants International and Grant Annals, who held the position of director-general civil aviation in the Solomons during the period of the payments. Neither man could be contacted last night.
Other potential suspects include a former permanent secretary to the Solomon Islands Government, who requested a $22,000 payment from Airservices to buy a second-hand Suzuki Vitara for his department's minister. The car was later seen being driven by the secretary's family and subsequently disappeared.
Other money from Airservices has been linked to payments for maintenance work at five of the Islands' airfields, years after the airfields in question had closed.
These suspected frauds are detailed in a report by the Solomon Islands Auditor-General, tabled in the country's parliament this month, which details how Airservices made a total of more than $2 million in payments at the request of senior government officials in the years 1998-2005. This money was "either paid to individuals (in cash) or transferred to bank accounts either within the Solomon Islands or overseas," the report said.
"This resulted in these funds being widely abused, resulting in suspected fraud and misuse of public monies."
Any investigation into the actions of Australian nationals will be uncomfortable for the Government, after Prime Minister John Howard told Pacific leaders in Fiji this week they had to stamp out corruption if they were to continue receiving aid money.
The Auditor-General's report also suggests that Solomon Islands consider legal action against Airservices, saying it "may have a claim" for losses incurred as a result of the more than 300 payments made by the company.
Airservices has a contract to provide high-level air-traffic control services for the Pacific nation. Fees collected from airlines for this work should have been forwarded to a specified Solomon Islands government bank account.
At the request of government officials, however, Airservices agreed to transfer about a fifth of these payments to third parties without obtaining formal permission to do so.
Permanent Secretary for the Solomon Islands Department of Communications, Aviation and Meteorology, Nairy Alamo, said her Government was investigating the role of Mr Ritchie and Grant. The pair are alleged to have systematically diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars from Airservices.
"These funds were being mismanaged during a period where the government institutions were not functioning well," she said.
Dan Box and Darren Willsher
October 26, 2006
SOLOMON Islands is investigating whether two Australians should face trial for possible fraud linked to $2 million in irregular payments made by the Australian government-owned company Airservices Australia.
The two are Hugh Ritchie, managing director of Aviation Consultants International and Grant Annals, who held the position of director-general civil aviation in the Solomons during the period of the payments. Neither man could be contacted last night.
Other potential suspects include a former permanent secretary to the Solomon Islands Government, who requested a $22,000 payment from Airservices to buy a second-hand Suzuki Vitara for his department's minister. The car was later seen being driven by the secretary's family and subsequently disappeared.
Other money from Airservices has been linked to payments for maintenance work at five of the Islands' airfields, years after the airfields in question had closed.
These suspected frauds are detailed in a report by the Solomon Islands Auditor-General, tabled in the country's parliament this month, which details how Airservices made a total of more than $2 million in payments at the request of senior government officials in the years 1998-2005. This money was "either paid to individuals (in cash) or transferred to bank accounts either within the Solomon Islands or overseas," the report said.
"This resulted in these funds being widely abused, resulting in suspected fraud and misuse of public monies."
Any investigation into the actions of Australian nationals will be uncomfortable for the Government, after Prime Minister John Howard told Pacific leaders in Fiji this week they had to stamp out corruption if they were to continue receiving aid money.
The Auditor-General's report also suggests that Solomon Islands consider legal action against Airservices, saying it "may have a claim" for losses incurred as a result of the more than 300 payments made by the company.
Airservices has a contract to provide high-level air-traffic control services for the Pacific nation. Fees collected from airlines for this work should have been forwarded to a specified Solomon Islands government bank account.
At the request of government officials, however, Airservices agreed to transfer about a fifth of these payments to third parties without obtaining formal permission to do so.
Permanent Secretary for the Solomon Islands Department of Communications, Aviation and Meteorology, Nairy Alamo, said her Government was investigating the role of Mr Ritchie and Grant. The pair are alleged to have systematically diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars from Airservices.
"These funds were being mismanaged during a period where the government institutions were not functioning well," she said.
Grandpa Aerotart
And we are supposed to be surprised?
Pacific 'leaders' are all corrupt...well ok...I accept that is too broad brush and I may be unreasonably tarring honest Pacific leaders with the wrong brush...so I'll modify my statement.
98% of Pacific 'leaders' are corrupt beyond belief...the remaining 2% have not yet been given a portfolio which has any fat to rake off into personal accounts.
That any Australian Govt department can attempt to claim innocence of this corporate knowledge is just bald faced dishonesty.
Pacific 'leaders' are all corrupt...well ok...I accept that is too broad brush and I may be unreasonably tarring honest Pacific leaders with the wrong brush...so I'll modify my statement.
98% of Pacific 'leaders' are corrupt beyond belief...the remaining 2% have not yet been given a portfolio which has any fat to rake off into personal accounts.
That any Australian Govt department can attempt to claim innocence of this corporate knowledge is just bald faced dishonesty.
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If Air Ace is correct, the answer is No.
[EDITED - because I got the wring end of the stick]
Air Force is exempt, as I understand it. As I assume are Navy, Army. (and USAF?)
You can all argue the pros and cons of charging / not charging the defence force - then when you get bored argue about user pays!
[EDITED - because I got the wring end of the stick]
Air Force is exempt, as I understand it. As I assume are Navy, Army. (and USAF?)
You can all argue the pros and cons of charging / not charging the defence force - then when you get bored argue about user pays!
Last edited by Shitsu_Tonka; 26th Oct 2006 at 13:58.
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YPEA - Pearce? I presume. So you are saying that Jepps say there is no NOTAM service?
I am a bit confused - as I understand it, NOTAMS are in the AFTN, and thats that. Why would Jepps suggest otherwise?
I am a bit confused - as I understand it, NOTAMS are in the AFTN, and thats that. Why would Jepps suggest otherwise?
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OK - I don't have Jepp online Access - nor I believe (oops - theres that word again) does Airservices - although just as likely I am wrong about this, but it is certainly not in the operational area.
How they gather their data I wouldn't know, nor how it is checked as complete - would be interesting to compare the data that can be harvested from Jepps compared to the web based interface from Airservices (which I personally think is excellent)
How they gather their data I wouldn't know, nor how it is checked as complete - would be interesting to compare the data that can be harvested from Jepps compared to the web based interface from Airservices (which I personally think is excellent)
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IP Debate
Jepps (aka Boeing) and ASA are in an IP dispute about data contained in MAPS etc. Jepps pays bugger all to access it which available through the ASA charting cycle; then reproduces it for massive profit... ASA wants a bigger slice of that pie. Maybe the access to the NOTAM service has been restricted with that dispute going on.
Additionally there are significant issues with accuracy of information distributed by Jepps. ASA makes an error, fixes it by NOTAM, Jepps publishes the original error and doesn't fix until their next cycle (cause you all hand amend based on the ASA NOTAMs right?)
Take the CB (RWY 35) STARS recently, as I understand it the ASA product has been correct for version 1 and version 2 (but yes ambiguous); now when we get to version 3 in November the Jepps edition should actually match the ASA edition and the controllers can 'start using' the STARS as the major users will have the right data in their FMSs.
The full ANAO report is here: http://www.anao.gov.au/WebSite.nsf/N...1!OpenDocument
Really good reading for those who know how to read between the lines when assessing government documents.
Additionally there are significant issues with accuracy of information distributed by Jepps. ASA makes an error, fixes it by NOTAM, Jepps publishes the original error and doesn't fix until their next cycle (cause you all hand amend based on the ASA NOTAMs right?)
Take the CB (RWY 35) STARS recently, as I understand it the ASA product has been correct for version 1 and version 2 (but yes ambiguous); now when we get to version 3 in November the Jepps edition should actually match the ASA edition and the controllers can 'start using' the STARS as the major users will have the right data in their FMSs.
The full ANAO report is here: http://www.anao.gov.au/WebSite.nsf/N...1!OpenDocument
Really good reading for those who know how to read between the lines when assessing government documents.
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Re NOTAM and Jepps
The Guys/Gals at the NOF/Briefing Office in the AusFIC may be able to advise whether or not the location you speak of are covered by International Series. I suspect that they are not. I understand that only "large" or point of entry ADs are considered for issue of International NOTAM as well as the domestic series.
Cheers, Jamit
As I understand it, the situation has always been this:
Not subscribing to Jepp I may be wrong on point 1, but certainly you have to get AsA NOTAMs to get the full operational picture.
- Jepp NOTAM only pertain to errors, omissions & changes to their own products
- Jepp NOTAM DO NOT cover AUS AIP MAP DAP ERSA etc., nor anything operational eg. AD, NAV, services etc.
- AsA NOTAMs are not issued for Jepp errors, omissions or changes (that is what Jepp NOTAM are for), unless the error/mistake will present significant safety or traffic management problems
- Jepp users MUST get AsA NOTAMs (for operational matters) in addition to Jepp NOTAMs (Jepp product errors/changes)
Not subscribing to Jepp I may be wrong on point 1, but certainly you have to get AsA NOTAMs to get the full operational picture.
