Allan warns against ‘dark’ dealings

 LAND and Physical Planning Minister Benny Allan warned department officers yesterday not to conduct official business in dark hotel rooms. 

He  issued the warning after highlighting a case where he caught an officer dealing with an investor in a hotel in Port Moresby.

Allan was in Lae yesterday and signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Governor Kelly Naru that reinstated the Morobe provincial physical planning board.

He said the board was an explicit requirement.

The reinstatement of the board was purposely to serve the national and provincial governments.

Board members should be:

• Alert to avoid conflict of interests;
• honest and transparent in providing best services to the people, businesses and investors with respect and dignity; 
• make decisions based on best professional judgement and advice without undue external pressure and influence;
• respect gender equality and the dignity of individuals and the nature of the business request;
• avoid pursuing the board’s business after hours with clients who have matters of interest pending before the board’s decision, and,
• Learn from past mistakes, never to repeat; otherwise, decisions must be purely on technical grounds and without other forces.

“This board should be the new chapter as an agent of change to bring out the true spirit of togetherness, eliminate individualism, selfishness, greed, high mindedness and foster humility and fairness and being transparent in aspects of the tasks,” Allan said.