A TASK to investigate into allegations that it had lost millions of dollars of legally due revenue as result of fraudulent deals by logging operators and customs&exercise officials will be formed.
It was a move by the current government, the Prime Ministers Office announcement on Thursday.
The investigation follows revelation by former Minister of Forestry, Bodo Dettke who had now been re-designated as the new Minister for Tourism in a recent reshuffle of Cabinet Ministers made by Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare.
An official press statement from the Prime Minister’s office said, the task force will be comprised of officials chosen from the Prime Ministers Office, the Ministry of Forestry and Research; the Inland Revenue and Customs divisions of the Ministry of Finance; Central Bank and Police.
“On the eve of his departure from the Ministry of Forestry, Mr.Dettke had lashed out publicly alleging he had uncovered scrupulous and fraudulent deals denying government of more than $500 million of expected revenue due from levies on logging operations, the statement said.
“Government points out that the task force will be mandated to investigate allegations of discrepancies and mauled practices within the Customs and Exercise and the Inland revenue divisions in the areas of export duties and withholding taxes.”
Government said Cabinet could also consider the possibility of appointing a Special Parliamentary Select Committee to carry out a comprehensive independent investigation.
The Special Parliamentary Select Committee will be tasked to dig deeper into the nature of the allegations and establish as to whether there were serious breaches of the laws of the land.
Government said it had commended the brave and honest bold action taken by the outgoing Minister of Forestry Bodo Dettke in exposing such matters of national concern in his revelation.
Government was quick to point out that the reshuffling of M .Dettke from the Ministry of Forestry to the Tourism Ministry did not in any way have anything to do with his revelation of the murky deals.
It pointed out that Mr.Dettke’s re-designation was intended to avoid opinions of doubt by critics who may feel his deliberations on matters related to logging issues could be compromised by personal interest since the Minister also owns a logging company.
Government said, it has full confidence in the ability of the new Minister for Forestry, Bartholomew Parapolo carrying out an independent investigation on the alleged underpayments plus implementation of proposed major reforms within the forestry sector.
Government said, the action taken by the Prime Minister in his recent reshuffling of Ministers was timely and made in the best interest of good governance taking into consideration the fact, Mr Dettke’s presence as political head of the Ministry of Forestry could jeopardize or undermine integrity of any investigation.
Government points out that income the country derives from the forestry industry makes up for 50 percent of its total revenue.
– PM’s Press Secretariat
