The Ministry of Rural Development has clarified that Taiwanese Embassy never paid 5.5 million dollars to the Solomon Islands Government for outstanding projects as claimed.

The Ministry has clarified this following the claims by the former Member of Parliament for East Honiara, Charles Dausabea.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Selina Boso, says the Taiwanese funds referred to by Mr Dausabea in the local newspaper was never disbursed as stated.

She says rather the funds came under the development budget of the Ministry of Rural Development.

Ms Boso says what Dausabea claimed to be disbursed to the government members had been appropriated under the development budget head of Ministry in the 2011 Supplementary Bill.

She says as such, this is not the ROC funds as claimed but the government supplementary appropriated fund under the Ministry of Rural Development.

Ms Boso says in December 2011, a cabinet paper was approved to assist the youth and development so a request for supplementary budget of five-point-five million dollars had to be disbursed to all 50 constituencies to promote youth and development.

She says the Taiwanese Embassy has never paid any outstanding money to the Government for any outstanding projects worth five-point-five million dollars.

Ms Boso says there is strict procedure in place where acquittal reports of the formerly approved 15 projects that had been already paid must be acquitted before any further release of funds by ROC.