The government of Papua New Guinea has come under fire for its decision to import 40 luxury Maserati cars to ferry world leaders around the APEC summit scheduled to be held in the country next month.
Officials said the Maserati Quattroporte sedans, worth more than $100,000 each and flown in on two charter airplanes from Milan, would be bought by the “private sector” after the summit, leaving the government with no costs.
But people reacted angrily in Papua New Guinea, where according to the U.N. an estimated 40% of the population live on less than $1.25 a day.
The country is suffering from an outbreak of the devastating disease polio, with 14 cases of infected children confirmed, in the first outbreak in 18 years. Many said the government should be spending its money on other things.
“Of course we have paid a deposit to get everything here but all costs will be totally reimbursed and there will be no burden at all to the government at the end of the day,” Papua New Guinea’s minister for APEC, Justin Tkatchenko. told News Corp. “They are selling like hotcakes.”
