Opposition leader Sir Mekere Morauta called on the prime minister and the government to act swiftly to clear allegations surrounding a Post-Courier newspaper report on the existence of the bank account.
The newspaper alleged that 2.1 percent in log exports were accumulating in this account, kept by the minister, since 2002.
Morauta said that the allegations, if true, represented “the most serious case of corruption that has come to light to date.”
“It is the most serious in terms of the scale of the money involved, and the alleged method,” he said. “If the allegations are true, they also demonstrate what I have been saying for a long time — that corruption has been institutionalized; it is systemic and systematic. If the allegations are true, they show that senior members of the government are using state institutions for personal gain.”
He called on the prime minister to immediately request the police anti-corruption and fraud squad, Ombudsman Commission, the Bank of Papua New Guinea and the National Intelligence Organization to investigate the allegations.
“Singapore is a world leader in anti-corruption,” he said. “On behalf of the people of Papua New Guinea, I call on the government of Singapore to assist us in the investigations so they proceed unhindered.”
Somare was not in the chamber to answer the questions.
But Deputy Prime Minister Puka Temu urged the opposition and Post-Courier to name names and present credible evidence for the government to act on it.
Public Service Minister Peter O’Neill raised a point of order, asking Parliament Speaker Jeffrey Nape not to entertain the questions claiming that the newspaper report was speculative.
But Nape allowed Temu to answer.
