Record of loan approval missing

The National Main Stories

By HELEN TARAWA
RECORDS on the parliamentary approval of the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) and the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) loans in the form of resolutions or enabling Act of Parliament are missing, the Royal Commission of Inquiry (COI) was told yesterday.
These were among the items that could not be located from the information and documents that acting Clerk of Parliament Kala Aufa had submitted to the commission yesterday.
Aufa was represented by his lawyer Robin Kawat, who told the commission that from all the records that were compiled, four important items could not be located.
The documents that were missing included:

  • Parliamentary approval of the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) loan in 2009 and the UBS loan in 2014 in the form of resolutions or enabling Act of Parliament;
  • Any Acts or Bills of the IPIC loan in 2009 and UBS in 2014;
  • Annual reports by the Speaker of Parliament, with information on the two loans; and,
  • Logged papers relating to IPC loan in 2009 and UBS in 2014.

COI chairman Sir Salamo Injia told the inquiry that there was a referral by the Ombudsman Commission of former prime minister Peter O’Neill between 2014 and 2016 for prosecution under the leadership code. Sir Salamo said there may have been a leadership tribunal appointed and there may have been a statement or debate made about that referral in Parliament and requested that this information be also made available.
He explained that the procedure for the appointment of the leadership tribunal was that the appointing authority, which was the chief justice, would formally write to the speaker of parliament or clerk advising of the appointment so the speaker or the clerk’s office should have some records of receiving these correspondence.
Sir Salamo urged Aufa and his lawyer to ensure that they had a complete set of records with the availability of those missing information.
He also directed that Aufa confer with COI secretary Mathew Yuangu with regards to any records on the OC’s referral of O’Neill for prosecution under the leadership code.

22 comments

  • This must not be allowed to happen as missing documents. This will be an uncivilized way of putting it this way, in this technology world of property rights to documents. Get out of this, tell the truth and reveal everything that transpired in this case.

  • Now adays we don’t have to trust any body but trust out Lord and of course ourselves

  • Someone or people involved are trying to avoid prosecution no wonder the important files went missing.. Whoever is responsible looking after these files must held accountable..

  • Thats how easily top parliamentarians and bureaucrats get away with daylight corruption, by just destroying the evidence. If a place like parliament is not capable of good record keeping then all of PNG is going backwards. Or maybe its just the people in those position, surely they can be charged with negligence or something to allow this to happen.

  • Very interesting? How comes highly official document are not kept in file for the future record. That show some shorts of conspiracy and corruption. White collar crime so that no trace should be left Behind. Kept investigate or else arrest the Acting Clerk.

  • This is a sign of not co-oporating so therefore have them behind bars, that;s what they are asking for

  • This is very funny at the highest office of the country. If this is not in place then PNG was operating with no legs and hands, and heads, almost every part of the body. Such leaders have sank the country and have given PNG to wild dogs. Such practices are revealed by God our Father because local Christians in our remote and urban bible believing churches are praying for the truth to reveal. Please keep investigating, we will keep asking God for the inquiry team to complete their given task.

  • Very strange??? Parliament is in the heart of PNG’s capital city, not some kind of rural setting were technology is not available or electricity is non existence???.. really????

  • Who, than can be responsible???

    Very funny, Parliament records going missing right in the Parliament house!!!!!! Do these records have legs to walk out from where they belong to????

  • Simple provide the soft copies don’t mark around looking for safe heaven, it should been in the cloud have you done that or maybe you must have forgotten your google password “”(high profile documents just went missing)”” maybe you should say you lost it in your cupboard back at home and not in your workstation. That’s shows how sick that office is functioning.

  • Corruption over PNG, No wonder our country finance will never improve, citizen will continue to live in a difficult settings whilst Politician will continue to live luxury….Trupla PNG way….

  • Since the documents of the Speaker of Parliament in 2014 are missing, the Speaker himself should testify and provide answers. Also, UBS bank in Switzerland should be instructed to give information about the details of the loan.

  • There is this unique Justice system in this country-that is parliamentarians or rich politicians will ALWAYS be free and clean!

  • We are in the digital world, modern technology, very easy to find out .
    There is always a way, go to all records of calls, text messages emails between 2009 through to 2020.
    All those clerks, parliamentarians involved. should some how communicate to destroy those files.
    Remember that God will reveal the truth.

  • Ya, destroying records and kill a person to conceal evidence, this is the tactic to evade the tracking, its very likely that people responsible has knowledge of the important documents. they know they are the evidence themselves
    Corrupt leaders

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