A provincial administrator in Papua New Guinea, William Padio, has hit out at accusations that he has mis-spent money on luxury vehicles.
The criticism came as a volcanic eruption in West New Britain forced more than 12-thousand people to seek shelter in care centres.
It has been revealed that Mr Padio brought a 90-thousand US dollar vehicle for his department, sparking calls that the timing and value of the purchase was inapproriate.
But Mr Padio says that the vehicle was ordered four months ago and he says it is much needed because more than 20 vehicles were taken out of provincial use at the beginning of the year.
Mr Padio says that people have ulterior motives for complaining about the purchase.
"We have international people coming here, the UNICEF, AusAid people come here and they see what a wonderful job we've done, even a minister came here and he saw the job we've done such a wonderful job having no background experience in disaster management. Those good comments have caused people to be jealous and people to make unfounded comments."
William Padio