From the Office of the Opposition Leader PRESS STATEMENT 6th November 2013 STOP DEFLECTING THE ISSUE PM I call on the Prime Minister to stop playing games and own up to his involvement in the corruption of the decade. Mr. O’Neill must not continue to deflect and down play the seriousness of this major corruption scandal in which himself and two of his most senior Ministers are involved. There is no doubt that he and his Ministers knowingly and or carelessly aided and abetted the fraudulent payment of nearly K100 Million of public funds. The level of intimidation and cohesion that was applied by the three politicians on the poor servants in the Finance and Treasury Department is unbelievable. They treated the illegal and fraudulent payment of K71.8 million to Mr. Paraka as if it was an emergency, such that the public servants were bombarded with directive after directive. They even went to the extent of directing that the funds be sourced from Reserve Trust Funds, which are kept for emergency situations only. It is indeed a national shame that, the three leaders went out of their way to pay Paraka, who was not at all entitled to a single toea, and I repeat, not a single toea. As a matter of fact, we are aware that Mr. Paraka has been paid more than K300 Million between 2007 and 2013, and some of those millions were paid in 2010 and 2011, when Mr O’Neill himself was Finance Minister. The Prime Minister has been challenging me to talk on real issues. I now ask him, is corruption not a real issue? Is he suggesting that corruption and the fight against corruption is not a serious business? It amazes and saddens me to hear these sorts of remarks from the Prime minister of this Country. I must say that only persons who are serial and pathological fraudsters can’t see corruption as a serious matter for this country. Fighting corruption is the number one policy issue for me and my Party (PNG PARTY) and my Team in the Opposition. I wish to guarantee Peter O’Neill that my fight against corruption has only begun. I will keep him under check for the full term of this Parliament, hence he must get used to it. I must state here that the Opposition will support the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) Bill. However, the PM must publically make a commitment that the current Task Force Sweep Team will move in and make up positions and continue their current and ongoing investigations. The commitment is critical because the Opposition has information that, as soon as the ICAC Bill is passed, the PM will disband the Task Force Sweep Team to avoid being prosecuted. As one can imagine, once the current investigations are halted, it is any body’s guess if the cases will ever mature to arrests. Authorized by Hon. Belden Norman Namah, MP Leader of the Opposition OPPOSITION LEADER RESPONDS TO POLICE COMMISSIONERS LETTER 05th November 2013 Mr. Tom Kulunga, OBE, DPS, QPM Commissioner of Police Police Head Quarters P.O BOX 85 KONEDOBU My Dear Commissioner RE: COMPLAINT AGAINST PRIME MINISTER, PETER ONEILL, MP I acknowledge receipt of your letter dated 01st November 2013 regarding the above and I thank you for the same. I must say I am disappointed with your response as the head of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary, in that you have not taken responsibility for the conduct of investigations on my complaint against Peter ONeill. I expected a response which, apart from acknowledgement, stated the Occurrence Book (OB) number and the directions your office has issued the various divisions of Police, as well as the Task Force Sweep Team, to investigate the complaint. I must remind you that the Police Force as a State Service is a Constitutional Office, mandated by the Constitution to undertake its functions independently and without fear or favor. Your suggestion that the complaint is best left to the Task Force Sweep Team for the reason that Peter ONeill is the Police Minister is absolutely unacceptable and regrettable. It is tantamount to a willful neglect of duty and misconduct in office. The Task Force Sweep Team is neither an arm of the Police Force, nor an independent Constitutional Office. It is the creation of the National Executive Council, a body which is functional, not only at the direction of the NEC but breathes air at the discretion of the NEC, of which Peter ONeill is Chairman. I must remind you that the cancer of corruption is chocking this land we love and unless the Police Force, the only constitutionally mandated law enforcement arm takes its responsibility seriously, our future and the future of our children is doomed. I therefore ask that you as the Commissioner of Police take full responsibility for the investigation of my complaint, failing which I call for your immediate resignation as head of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary. Yours Sincerely, Hon. Belden Norman Namah Leader of the Opposition Cc: Ombudsman Commission : Transparency International
Posted on: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 01:46:34 +0000
Trending Topics
© 2015