Kandep MP: Target root cause of corruption

By JEFFREY ELAPA

THE endemic and systematic corruption that is rife can only be corrected when the root cause of the problem is addressed, Treasurer and Finance Minister Don Polye said, The National reports.
During the debate on the national anti-corruption strategy 2010-30 in Parliament yesterday, he pointed out that there were many factors contributing to the high level of corruption.
He said there was always a root cause to all problems. One was the endemic and systematic corruption in PNG – a huge problem affecting the nation.
He said culture was one of the causes because there was always a difference between the introduced western culture and the indigenous Melanesian culture.
He said some things were not part of our culture and problems arose when the two cultures clashed.
“In order for those cultures to become part of our culture, we have to train our people to accept them as part of our life,’’ he said.
“For example, as I grew up, my father and mother did not teach me to budget. It was something new and a skill they even did not practise before. I learnt it when I was at university,” he said.
All new skills had to be taught in the family unit and continued as they proceeded to school so that it became part of them.
Polye said by using some of the government policies such as the Pikinini policy, the youth policy and the education polices, some of the problems relating to corruption could be addressed.
Targeting family units, churches and education systems meant that young people were trained at an early age to develop skills of respect and honesty.
As the treasurer, he had not allocated any funding to the good policies Dame Carol Kidu had initiated in her department. But as a government, they could so that such policies be utilised to address the issue of corruption and the other social problems.