Pacific Anti-Corruption Updates (25 May 2019): PNG, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands

PAPUA NEW GUINEA:

First-ever PNG Youths Fashion Show. The first-ever PNG Youths Fashion Show held during the weekend was created to support the work of Youth Against Corruption Association (YACA) and the WeCARe Foundation.

http://www.looppng.com/entertainment/first-ever-png-youths-fashion-show-84398

Manase wants to push corruption bill this year.  Ministerof Justice and Attorney-General Alfred Manase says he will ensure that the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) Bill is passed in Parliament this year.

https://www.thenational.com.pg/manase-wants-to-push-corruption-bill-this-year/

 

VANUATU:

On China’s mainland, its millionaires ponder a Chinexit.  Vanuatu, a Pacific island country, is probably the most successful in this regard; citizenship is available to those who invest $150,000 or more, and this program is so popular that the money accounts for 24 per cent of Vanuatu’s total government revenue…Clearly, China has been shedding capital and talent through migration of its wealthy elite. The Communist Party of China’s crackdown on corruption, no doubt, has also had an effect.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-on-chinas-mainland-its-millionaires-ponder-a-chinexit/

 

SOLOMON ISLANDS:

Solomon Islands imprisoned for trying to stop the logging of their forests.  A group of residents of Nende Island in the Solomon Islands claim corrupt government practices allowed a logging company to get a license to log the island’s primary forests, as well as cropland. Activists also allege the company, Malaysia-based Xiang Lin SI Ltd, logged outside of its concession area.

https://news.mongabay.com/2019/05/solomon-islanders-tried-to-stop-the-logging-of-their-forest-and-may-pay-the-price/

A new election brings little hope for Solomon Islands’ vanishing forests.  Longstanding allegations of corruption plague forest governance in the Solomon Islands, with residents and NGOs claiming government officials are allowing logging to illegally penetrate primary forests on community and ancestral land.

https://news.mongabay.com/2019/05/a-new-election-brings-little-hope-for-solomon-islands-vanishing-forests/

 

 

To know more about the UN Pacific Regional Anti-Corruption Project please contact the team members:

Annika Wythes, Regional Anti-Corruption Adviser, UNODC, annika.wythes@un.org

Mihaela Stojkoska, Anti-Corruption Specialist - Pacific, UNDP, mihaela.stojkoska@undp.org

Maria Lee, Peace & Development Administrative Assistant, UNDP/UNODC, maria.lee@undp.org