Young dancers prepare to welcome dignitaries at 50th celebrations in Rarotonga, Cook Islands Photo: RNZI/Sally Round
The Cook Islands Public Service Commissioner says he will examine the arrangements the Government made with charter company, Pacific Schooners Ltd.
Russell Thomas says he wants to see documentation on why a tender process wasn't used by the Government before it contracted Pacific Schooners to move people back to the outer islands after the annual Te Maeva Nui celebrations.
The Commissioner says he's aware that the Financial Secretary Richard Neves has been trying to contact Pacific Schooners' director Mike Henry to seek a refund of the deposit the government made.
That deposit is believed to have been more than $US130,000.
Our correspondent reports that Pacific Schooners' vessel, Tiare Taporo, is understood to have been stationary in the Panama Canal for about two weeks.