‘Frightening’ corruption worries MP

National

SOUTH Bougainville MP Timothy Masiu has described reports of corruption in the Autonomous Bougainville Government public service as “frightening” .
Masiu made the comments in the ABG parliament last week during a debate on a report on the performance of the public service by the Minister for Public Service Robert Hamal Sawa.
“The public service is the most important instrument of government and to hear reports of ghost names and squandering of government money is indeed frightening. Only God knows what will happen if we don’t stop it,” Masiu said.
The report highlighted that public servants were unlawfully creating positions and awarding themselves huge salary increases and allowances, appointing cronies to positions.
It is the second such scathing report on public service corruption tabled in the ABG parliament.
The report said the lack of development funding was caused by the illegal diversion of funds by the administration.
“We must build Bougainville with a public service that is vibrant, loyal, transparent and visionary,” he said.
“We have a huge task ahead to clean out the public service and we must act now.”
Masiu said political leaders must take an interest in the appointment of senior public servants.
“It is our duty to ensure there is no nepotism in appointments because in the end, it is the political leader who will be held accountable,” he said.