The
June 19 - July 2, 2024
1
Kaselehlie Press
The
June 19, 2024
Free bi-weekly publication
KASELEHLIE PRESS PO Box 2222 Kolonia, Pohnpei, FM 96941
Kpress@mail.fm
Vol. 24 Issue No. 14
(691) 320-6547
Tasi Limtiaco: Putting Micronesia swimming on the map at Paris 2024 Federated States of Micronesia swimmer Tasi Limtiaco reveals how an athlete from a small island can make it to the world stage with the help of an Olympic Solidarity scholarship. As part of our series following scholarship-holders on their road to Paris, Limtiaco talks about the progress he has made since Tokyo 2020 and his hopes for the future of swimming back home. International Olympics Committee June 6, 2024 FSM—Growing up on Guam, an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Tasi Limtiaco was never far from water. “I’ve always had an affinity with the water,” he says. “I’d be out there every day, swimming around. Eventually, my dad took me down to a local club to learn how to swim him long to reach the top and, while properly, and I really took to it. That’s satisfying, it left him wanting more. how it all started.” “We didn’t have the best resources,” he Limtiaco’s natural ability in the water remembers. “I grew up practising in a was immediately obvious, and he quickly 15-metre hotel pool. As I started going began to surpass his peers. It didn’t take through the ranks and getting better and
Photos by Jourdyn Adams
better, there was nothing to challenge relocating to Thailand on a FINA (World me.” Aquatics) scholarship. Knowing he needed to leave home Although leaving home for unfamiliar to reach his full potential, Limtiaco surroundings was tough, the experience first moved to Japan, where he trained Click here for continuation on page 6 alongside other future Olympians, before
POPA report finds deficiencies in Sokehs Municipal Government representation funds handling in 2023 By Bill Jaynes The Kaselehlie Press June 17, 2024 Sokehs,Pohnpei—On June 4, 2024, the Compliance Investigation Division of the Pohnpei Office of the Public Auditor (POPA) released a Preliminary Review and Administrative Investigation (PRAI) on allegations of abuse and misuse of Sokehs Municipal Government representation funds in fiscal year 2023. The review showed serious deficiencies in the handling of representation funds in all three branches of the Sokehs Municipal Government during that year. The investigation was initiated after POPA received a complaint from a concerned
citizen alleging abuses of representation Branch spent $9,750, of which $9,000 funds by the Sokehs Government. was appropriated. The Judiciary Branch spent $11,612.82, only $6,500 of which The review disclosed that a total was appropriated by law. of $24,500 was appropriated by law to finance the government’s In the Executive Branch, auditors found representation accounts that year. an instance where $1,535 was expended However, an additional $11,087.44 was for the procurement of sakau plants and reprogrammed from other government- sakau pohn takai. Payments totaling appropriated accounts to supplement $4,695 were made and issued to the the representation accounts for a total Chief Magistrate without invoices or of $35,610.81. documents to support the expenditures. Another $2,550 was spent by the In the Executive Branch, $14,221.62 Sokehs Treasurer when he was in an was spent, of which only $9,000 was acting capacity as the Chief Magistrate. appropriated by law. The remainder The Chief Magistrate reprogrammed was unilaterally reprogrammed into $1,921.37 from his fixed assets the representation account from other expense account and $3,140.25 from expense categories. The Legislative the consumable expense account to
supplement his representation account in 2023. In the Legislative Branch, an amount of $3,015 was expended for the procurement of sakau plants and sakau pohn takai. An amount of $400 was paid for a Section 4 function and $200 for medical referral costs to the former speaker without receipts or invoices to support the expenditure. An Acting Speaker, who is now the sitting Speaker, received $150 for a funeral contribution without any supporting documents. In the Judiciary Branch, the records showed that the Chief Justice spent Click here for continuation on page 6