MPs among 33 on ‘watch’ list

By JULIA DAIA BORE
THE government-appointed team investigating corruption has named 33 prominent citizens it wants “monitored” because of pending court cases and investigations.
The investigation Task Force Sweep last week sent a letter to Air Niugini to “monitor” the movements of the 33 who included government parliamentarians and bureaucrats.
The letter, dated Nov 23, 2011, was marked “very confidential” and sent by the Task Force Sweep headed by Sam Koim to the Air Niugini chief executive officer Wasantha Kumarasiri, calling on him to instruct his employees “to monitor the movement of certain people” – and named the 33.
First on the list was Kokopo businessman Eremas Wartoto and former national planning minister Paul Tiensten, both of whom had been charged with fraud-related offences relating to a K10 million released to Wartoto to help set up his local airline business.lFrom Page 1
Also on the list was National Planning secretary Ruby Zarriga.
Named also is William Sent, the suspended assistant secretary infrastructure and economic division.
The letter included other names “that need to be monitored” because the Task Force Sweep “is interested” in them and their movements as they are targeted for investigations.
Koim stated in the letter that the government had extended its term of office to complete the corruption investigations.
The letter is an update of an earlier one issued in September which carried the names of about 28 people to be monitored by Air Niugini.
When contacted yesterday, Koim confirmed that he had sent the Nov 23 letter to the Air Niugini CEO.
He was surprised that the “confidential” letter, which was meant to be only between him and the CEO of Air Niugini, had been leaked to The National.
He also expressed concern about the effect the publicity of its content, particularly of the names, would have on the effective execution of the investigations by his team.
A PNG lawyer, who did not want to be identified, yesterday questioned the legal authority of the chairman of Task Force Sweep to issue such a directive to the Air Niugini management.
“What legal authority does he (Koim) have to issue such directives to a CEO of a business entity?” the lawyer said.
“Why can’t his team just call in those they want to question and do so and not treat them like criminals?”
Another lawyer said it was likely that the action by Koim’s team would restrict travel for those on the list during the festive season.
“This is an intrusion into their privacy which is a constitutional democratic right,” the lawyer said.
Another lawyer said it would appear that this was not the prosecution of alleged wrong-doers by the application of law but a personal persecution in a supposedly democratic country.
Attempts were made yesterday to get comments from some of the people on the list but there had been no response when this edition went to press.