Minister explains contracts concerning processing facility

ANY private contracts engaged by the Immigration Office are invalid including the security contract for the Manus asylum seekers processing facility, Immigration Minister Westly Nukundj says.
Nukundj said this in response to questions in Parliament from Manus Governor Charlie Benjamin regarding the recent protest by local landowners calling for the Chief Migration Officer and his staff to explain how a security contract was awarded when there were people already on the ground looking after the facility.
Benjamin also wanted to know why police had harassed the landowners who had staged the peaceful protest.
He said his provincial administration wanted the State to transfer the facility to their control in order to set up a technical vocational college.
Nukundj said if any agreements had been entered between any party from the Office of Immigration then it was invalid.
He said the Government’s position was clear on the engagement of locals who had been involved in the process over time and they need to be considered first before others.
He said he had also issued a directive to consider local companies to provide security at the processing centre and any arrangement not in line with that was null and void.
“Any other arrangement with officers of the department entering into any agreement or contract with any other group is illegal and the Government will not recognise that agreement,” Nukundj said.
“The instruction or the decision of the Government is in force and has not changed.”
He also confirmed that the Paladin security contract had been officially terminated and they were no longer engaged.
He said the Government had decided to use the K200 million facility and hand it over to the Department of Higher Education Science Research and Technology (DHESRT) to run a technical vocational education training centre in partnership with the Manus provincial government.
Nukundj said he was yet to be briefed on the involvement of police and the alleged harassment of protesters but the presence of a police mobile squad in Loreangau was essential to protect the facility and its assets in Manus.