PORT MORESBY - Papua New Guinea newly-elected Henganofi MP Robert Atiyafa is proposing to introduce a private member's bill in parliament next week, aimed at closing all inquiries, investigations and tribunals into leadership wrongdoings.
He believed that by burying all the alleged sins of leaders and prominent people past and present, the current batch of newly-elected leaders can focus on moving PNG forward.
Speaking at a press conference in Goroka, Atiyafa, a National Party MP, said: "Inquiries, tribunals and investigations without end results are a waste of money that could be used to help advance the country out of its stagnation after 36 years of independence.
"The National Provident Fund (NPF, now Nasfund), Moti affair, Sandline, Cayman Island, Rabaul Queen disaster, the Finance inquiries and so on, have implicated so many prominent people, yet apart from the public perceptions that those who were implicated are guilty of the allegations against them, there has been no . . . criminal convictions recorded," he said.
He compared PNG with Singapore and Malaysia, saying they were developed and had become economic powers within the region even though they did not have mineral resources.
He said under the bill, named after him, those leaders or bureaucrats who have been implicated in corruption and illegal activities would be given a grace period to apologise publicly.
Millions of kina had been spent on commissions, tribunals and investigations and while he appreciated the fact that public interest was equally important, many of these inquiries and tribunals did not achieve their purposes and did more harm than good, he said.
Atiyafa believed that after his bill was passed, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) Bill should also become law and pave the way for police to deal with corrupt leaders and their cohorts.