Morobe Provincial Authority headquarters in Lae, Papua New Guinea Photo: RNZ / Johnny Blades
The municipal authority in Papua New Guinea's second city is removing hundreds of ghost names from its payroll.
According to a report by EMTV, after decades of corruption and poor service delivery, the Lae City Authority is undergoing a restructure.
An investigation into the Authority, completed in 2018, showed millions of funds had been stolen over two decades through payment to non-existent employees. But the Morobe Provincial Administration took years to act on it.
However, the chief executive of the Authority, Neil Ellery, said that from next year the body would be a lot leaner.
"The three hundred or so jobs that will go, it'd save close to five million kina in savings a year just on that alone," he said.
"But it's also the efficiencies that will be created by having professional, proper people doing the revenue collection."
Lae District Treasury Photo: RNZ / Johnny Blades