Juffa wants inspections, audits of illegal foreign workers

The National National

NORTHERN Governor Gary Juffa wants the Department of Labour and Industrial Relations to conduct inspections and audits of illegal foreigners working in the country.
Speaking during grievance debate in Parliament on Friday, Juffa said under Section 61 of the Foreign Employment Act, the fine for companies that employed foreigners illegally was K20,000.
He said under Section 62 it’s K10,000 for the individuals so that’s a total of K30,000.
He said recently there was series of inspections and audits carried out in logging companies in Northern which revealed 44 foreigners were working there unlawfully.
“If we were to impose those fines, we would collect K1.32 million under the Labour laws,”Juffa said.
“We would also collect further fines in relation to the fact that none of these workers fulfil the criterial for working in PNG.
“One of the most important criteria being proficiency in English language,” he said.
Juffa said there were similar incidents throughout the country.
He gave an example of Boroko where there were businesses and shops operating with people employed unlawfully.
“With these fines at a time when the country really needs the revenue, it’s time for the Labour Department to get out and start conducting these audits and inspections and imposing these fines.
“Once these persons have been fined and prosecuted, they should not be in this country.
“They are supposed to be declared persona non-grata (person not welcome) and they should be deported.
“Those persons should be immediately blacklisted from PNG.”

3 comments

  • Please Government. Do the same for logging activities in the Western Province at Middle Fly District along the Bamu, Aramia and Fly rivers. Lots of illegal loggers there with no proper visa and don’t speak English. Middle Fly, South Fly and North Fly Districts and the Governor STOP PRETENDING. THESE ARE HAPPENING IN ELECTORATES AND THE WHOLE WESTERN PROVINCE.

  • PNG is one of those countries in the world where fugitives and aliens who cannot speak English and who do not have passports can illegally enter the country very easily, in most cases facilitated by Public Servants who are vested with the duties and responsibilities to protect our borders from entry of illegal aliens.

    To start with, investigate and sack the Secretaries of the Department’s of Immigration and Labour and Employment for turning a blind eye on illegal activities such as issuing of VISA and PASSPORTS to foreign workers (aliens) who do not meet the employment or immigration acts and other related laws of our country.

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