By LUCAS KIAP / PNG Blogs

Wake up Papua New Guineans; we are not living in an imagination paradise world any more. Corruption in this country is real, is serious and is eating deeply into development funds meant for providing the basic government services which the people are praying for every day.

There is no one else to blame for than the politicians we elect to serve us with honor, pride and dignity; bureaucrats that we entrust to managing government departments and institutions; public servants that are responsible for implementing government policies; and cohorts who often network with the key people in government positions – they all everyday work around the clock tirelessly - devising plans, mechanisms, policies, and platforms which can be effectively used to divert funds away from the real intentions and eventually ended up into their own pockets.

There is no joke about this. This is serious. Papua New Guineans, the better country that you want to live in will not be built by anyone else than the one that you built it by yourself.

Corruption is trapping millions in poverty. Corruption is allowing people from other countries to take up business and employment opportunities which supposed to be preserved for locals. Corruption is causing increase in law and order problems because funds which meant for this are diverted elsewhere. Corruption is responsible for substandard and poor quality infrastructures in the country, which often comes apart into a few years of operation.

Papua New Guineans, as long as the future of this country and the future of our children are concerned, we have a real problem threatening to deprive us of all the opportunities to a better life in this country, which has so much potential to develop and advance quickly.

However, if what the current government is doing to address corruption in this country is something that we all can embrace, then the government has more to do than just setting up the Investigative Task Force Sweep (ITFS) as the culprits who stole K1.4 billion are still at large.

The K1.4 billion, the figure which is estimated to be stolen as published in the mainstream media by the Chairman of the Investigative Task Force Sweep, Mr. Sam Koim is a very significant amount of money that can replace Australian Aid and subsequently all the goodies that our elected leaders preach about the recent Asylum Seekers deal, signed between the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea and Australia.

The K1.4 billion is less than what is stolen from the people’s purse. This figure could be multiplied if all government departments are to be investigated including all state entities. The figure could also be multiplied further if all elected MPs are to be investigated of how they have used their district development grants over the years.

A true government that really cares for the people and love them will not shy away from investigating those public funds and prosecute all those responsible for stealing billions every year.  This raises a lot of questions about this government’s ability and willingness to address corruption by setting up the Investigative Task Force Sweep (ITFS) and also the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). 

If the intentions of this government to address corruption are real and without fear or favor then we are definitely waiting to see some of the prominent people and high profile politicians in the country to serve their time behind bars.

But if that is not fort coming then we the people of PNG have a lot to do to defend this country and our future from the imminent threat of corruption - threatening to erase our beautiful country off the world map.