TRANSPARENCY Solomon Islands (TSI) has congratulated JANUS following its arrest of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Infrastructure Development Henry Murray and his wife this week.
Murray has been charged with 19 counts of official corruption. His wife faces 19 counts of false pretence.
These were in relation to a company they set up in their name and paid more than $1.1 million of public funds approved by Murray.
In a statement, TSI said the arrest is a start of unraveling, the issue of conflicts of interest of top public officials.
“We urge JANUS to extend their investigation to cover other officers within the Ministry,” the statement said.
“There are many more corrupt practices to be exposed with regard to conflicts of interest,” he added.
“We also urge JANUS to also look into the issues surrounding the shipping grants [2013-2015].
“It is understood that of the total funds released to recipients, a total of $26.3 million provided to grant recipients vessels are yet to purchased vessel according to report tabled before the Parliament on this.
“There is no vessel registered for this amount indicating a high risk that the moneys have been obtained but not used for its planned purpose.”
The available information on the 2013-2015 Shipping Grant areas follows:
· [2013-2015] Vessel purchased and registered: $19.1M
· [2013-2015] Vessel not purchased, registered and missing documentation: $26.3M
TSI urged the Ministry of Finance & Treasury and the Ministry of Police under JANUS to conduct an investigation into all incomplete projects and where it is found that the recipient is unable to complete, that action be taken to recover the moneys.
“This is tax payers’ money and Parliamentarians who do not pay tax and other recipients of these funds must account for them.
“To help JANUS we urge the Prime Minister to deliver on his promises where he publicly declared that the Solomon Islands Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Whistle-blowers Protection Bill are passed this year in the interest of the many people without services because funds have been diverted from service delivery and development.”
JANUS is an anti-corruption taskforce set up to investigate corruption in government.
It is made up of officers within the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force and the Ministry of Finance and Treasury.
