PNG police find missing fleet of Maseratis, Bentleys
The $7 million fleet of luxury cars caused outrage when shipped into poverty-ridden PNG. It got worse when they vanished.
The hundreds of imported cars were condemned at the time as a gross extravagance in a country where most people live in poverty.
In a further embarrassment for the government of Papua New Guinea, the vehicles it bought for a prestigious summit of world leaders last year went missing.
Fortunately for ministers, a special police unit has now tracked down the $7 million fleet of Maseratis and Bentleys that vanished after the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit in November.
About 275 other vehicles, including Toyota Land Cruisers, Fords, Mazdas, Hyundais and Mitsubishi Pajeros, were apparently kept by the civil servants and Apec officials who had been assigned to use them.
APEC was attended by President Xi of China and Mike Pence, vice-president of the United States.
The decision to host it was divisive in a country that has such poor health care that polio has recently returned. There were strikes in protest against the cars being flown in.
Superintendent Dennis Corcoran, of the recently formed State Asset Recovery Unit, said that “all 40 of the Maseratis and the three Bentleys” had been securely stored and were in top condition.
He said that he knew where most of the other missing vehicles were because they had been signed out. The Maserati Quattroportes, worth about $135,000 each, and three $410,000 Bentley Flying Spur V8s will be auctioned.
A few days after the summit police and prison wardens held a violent protest at the parliament building in Port Moresby, the capital.
They were angry at the authorities’ failure to pay them overtime bonuses for work during the summit. Although there were no reports of serious injuries, witnesses said that there were splashes of blood throughout the building.
After all the expense and rancour, the summit itself was far from a success.
APEC comprises 21 countries in Asia and the Americas, including the US, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea, but neither President Trump nor President Putin attended the summit.
For the first time in APEC’s 30-year history, the Asia-Pacific leaders failed to agree on a communique because of deep differences between the US and China over trade and investment.
At one point, Chinese officials barged into the office of Papua New Guinea’s foreign minister, demanding to discuss the communique.
The police were called. The officials left of their own accord.
— The Times
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