The fleet consisted of a variety of vehicles, including Bentleys and Maseratis.
It is not unusual for officials to offer courtesy cars to attendees at corporate functions or political events. Papa New Guinea hosted last November’s Asia-Pacific Economic Corporation summit. They spent some money on a fleet for world leaders and their staff. One problem is that a few cars have gone missing. We mean 284. Wait, what?
It gets even better. It seems that the government has the exact location of all missing cars. According to a report by Reuters, a government spokesperson said that they knew the location of all missing cars. Some are being used by government employees, while others are stored in government lots. Some of them ended up in Papa New Guinea’s highlands, for reasons that are not clear. Nine vehicles were also known to be stolen. However, three of the vehicles are actually in the highlands. So maybe there was an explanation. This is cool because the government spokesperson has a list listing all those who signed out the vehicles and he “basically knows” where they are. It seems legit to me.
Police are still waiting for the return of almost 300 cars. The luxury models, mainly Maseratis but also a few Bentleys, are apparently safe and sound. We mean that they are locked up in a shed near the wharf. That’s what Dennis Corcoran, the State Asset Recovery Unit superintendent, allegedly said Reuters. The other vehicles are a mixture of more plebian machines, including Mazda and Ford. We get the strange impression that there is more to this missing car fiasco then we are led to believe.
The report reveals that the government bought the cars with some controversy. The country is plagued by poverty. It’s one of many pressing issues that citizens may find more urgent for officials to address than buying expensive cars.