The government has referred seven district offices to the Attorney General over delayed financial reports tied to the District Development Programme (DDP).

Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt confirmed that there are seven districts still awaiting submission of reports before the release of their $300,000 allocations and said the cabinet had directed the matter to the Attorney General for investigation into why the reports had been delayed.

The districts named were Palauli 3, Alataua i Sisifo, Gagaemauga 1, Faleata 3, Aana Alofi 3, Aleipata Itupa i Lalo, Aana 2 and Aleipata Itupa i Luga.

He said the cabinet believed delays in the reports should not prevent the release of funding needed for districts to continue their work and had therefore referred the matter to the Attorney General for further action while implementation of the programme continued.

He said the cabinet was continuing the release of $300,000 district allocations to other districts.

He said many districts had already received their $1.2 million allocations, while the release of remaining funds was continuing.

The cabinet also decided that assistance through the bank would now be required for the release of the $300,000 allocations to ensure proper banking processes were followed.

The Prime Minister said reports received by the cabinet indicated that in some older districts, previous chairpersons were no longer serving and new chairpersons had taken over.

The DDP was launched in 2021 by the FAST government as a $1 million-per-district initiative aimed at decentralising development funding and giving villages greater control over local priorities.