The
May 14 - 27, 2025
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Kaselehlie Press
The
May 14, 2025
Free bi-weekly publication
KASELEHLIE PRESS PO Box 2222 Kolonia, Pohnpei, FM 96941
Kpress@mail.fm
Vol. 25 Issue No. 11
(691) 320-6547
24th Congress seated and ready to do business By Bill Jaynes The Kaselehlie Press
May 11, 2025 Pohnpei—The 14 members of the FSM Congress were seated and sworn in this morning in Palikir to constitute the 24th Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia. Despite the fact that the swearing in ceremony was held on Sunday and particularly a Mother’s Day, the gallery was packed with standing room only. The choice of day was not made by the members of Congress. The FSM Constitution requires that the new Congress be sworn in on May 11. This year it happened to fall on a Sunday morning. Click here for continuation on page 4
ODA and PPBC push back on Public Auditor’s findings in broadcast project review By Bill Jaynes The Kaselehlie Press
overstepped the bounds of the audit requested by the governor. They claimed the audit was intended solely to May 10, 2025 review procurement-related concerns, Pohnpei—Pohnpei’s Office of the not to draw conclusions about potential Public Auditor (POPA) recently released mismanagement or make other findings a compliance audit of the Pohnpei or observations. Public Broadcasting Corporation (PPBC) regarding a U.S.-funded project POPA staunchly defended its audit aimed at improving emergency disaster and noted that it has referred certain communication, public announcements, “matters,” which are undisclosed in the and energy production systems. report, to its Compliance Investigation Division for further review. The division In their responses, Pohnpei’s Overseas investigates issues uncovered during Development Assistance (ODA) audits to determine whether referrals to office and PPBC stated that POPA the Pohnpei State Attorney General are
warranted. One of the key issues in the audit is a $119,494.40 payment for an AM transmitter ordered under the grant. The payment was made to the vendor on April 4, 2022, but as of the date of the audit, the transmitter had still not arrived in Pohnpei. The auditors also noted, “Certain documentation of the grant and information regarding the vendor were not readily available for review during our fieldwork.” The audit cited long delays in procurement and noted “other matters
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of concern,” stating that PPBC did not take appropriate action early on. It also found that ODA, the PPBC Board of Directors, and/or the Department of Treasury and Administration (DOTA) failed to intervene before more serious issues developed. “Due to a lack of timely remedial action, in addition to insufficient management and failure of oversight monitoring, the government is now facing the risk of losing over $119,000,” the audit stated. “Even more concerning, PPBC did not Click here for continuation on page 4