PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament Dimar Labega has urged the government to urgently address an outstanding payment to a company that, he said, paused other work to repair damage at the Receiver’s Office after vandalism in March.
Speaking during the notifications segment of a parliamentary meeting, Labega said the business had waited eight months for payment without receiving adequate information on when its bill would be settled.
“That was eight months ago, eight months ago,” Labega emphasized.
According to the MP, the government approached the company directly after the Receiver’s Office was vandalized and asked for help repairing the damage. The business responded by setting aside its other commitments for three or four days to complete the requested work.
“When the government needed this company, they dropped everything they were doing for three or four days,” Labega told Parliament. “They came, made sure the government was properly taken care of as requested, and now they’re not receiving any response.”
Labega said the company had contacted him over the past few months because it had neither received payment nor adequate correspondence explaining when payment could be expected.
His intervention highlighted both the lengthy wait and the difficulty the company had encountered in obtaining a clear response after answering the government’s call for assistance.
“I believe that eight months is quite a long time,” he said.
Labega acknowledged that the government had been undergoing changes involving its payment systems. However, he urged the government to urgently investigate the outstanding payment.
“I know the government has been undergoing various payment system transfers, et cetera, but I would like the government to urgently look into this,” he stated.
The MP did not identify the company, disclose the amount outstanding, or specify which department was responsible for processing the payment. His remarks did not establish whether the system changes he referenced had caused the delay.
Labega raised the matter in the presence of the Prime Minister and support staff. The supplied excerpt contains no government response to his request or commitment to a payment date.
“So I would like for this to be looked into,” Labega concluded.