Parole Act must be reviewed

THE response by the Justice Secretary for Justice and chair of the parole board (The National, Feb 16) cannot go unchallenged.
Ordinary Papua New Guineans deserve better than the gobbledygook he has delivered from his podium.
The secretary side-tracked the two main issues raised and instead chose to insult the intelligence of the law abiding ordinary people with his hogwash.
We do not want to know about how many times the parole board has met under his leadership. We do not want to be lectured by him on the “can dos” and “cannot dos” or the politicisation and functions of the parole board.
What we are about is the two main issues that were raised and remain unanswered.
The Parole Act needs to be reviewed and amended to bring it up to speed and more in tune with the changing times. He can make that happen.
The Parole Board needs a full-time and independent chair to effectively run its affairs and not headed by a serving bureaucrat to avoid suspicion. He can make that happen too.
However, the secretary has chosen to protect his own interests and not take the steps required to implement these important changes that had been recommended in the White Paper Policy for the Law and Justice Sector.
It is high time the secretary’s political master and  Justice Minister awoke from his slumber and took more interest and not be blinded by presenting half-baked annual reports prepared for him on the floor of Parliament.

Mi inap pinis, Via email