POLICE Commissioner, Mostyn Mangau said they are still collecting evidences on the Honiara City Council (HCC) saga before they can constitute any charges.
Mangau explained that the audit report involving the ‘HCC saga’ is available with them. But, they are collecting evidences in terms of court proceedings and investigations.
“The complaints was received from the Home Affairs and referred to National Criminal Investigation Department (NCID) to investigate it,” Mangau said in response to complaints raised by the public over how police is handling the HCC saga.
“However, it was refereed to us early this year and therefore it will not be quick as how we expect it because there are evidences that police needs to collect,” he said.
He said they are trying to find evidences to support them in the court proceedings and investigation before they can constitute charges.
This week, a Honiara City resident, Aloden John has told this paper that the delay in informing the public of an investigation into the HCC saga shows that the police commissioner has not been serious about this but is trying to find the best way to get-out of this situation.
“If my investigation serves me well, I was told that the report of the HCC saga was sent to the Police Criminal Office at Central Police Station to the Senior Criminal Investigation Unit since 2020 but nothing has been done so far.
“The delay to investigate the matter has now got to the extent that we the public at large are not confident in the Police Criminal Department when it comes to fighting corruption,” John said, in a letter to the editor published by Solomon Star.
The HCC saga relates to issues of illegal sales of fire extinguishers, illegal borrowing, and the issue of unexplained wealth that the HCC office and its staff are involving in since early 2020.
By ASSUMPTA BUCHANAN BONGIDANI
Newsroom, Honiara
