Attorney General Siromi Turaga says the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption of yesterday is gone and this is the new image of FICAC where they are given the independence to operate without political interference and where staff are encouraged to do duties diligently.
While debating on the Review of FICAC's Annual Report, Turaga says a troubling factor that came recently was that some of the files from the previous years were only found when the previous commissioner left.
Turaga says more recently, one of the senior officers who was part of the administration from day one was not able to provide explanations when questioned about particular complaints and was sent on leave.
He says after going on leave then another bundle of investigation files were found.
The Attorney General says this is the cleanup that the coalition government had promised to do and will continue to do so.
He says this will be useful for planning purposes and achieving sustainable development targets which will drive positive changes providing access to justice for all. While supporting the motion, FijiFirst MP Faiyaz Koya says there are certain things in terms of the issues raised by FICAC however, the Attorney General Siromi Turaga has responded to it and the recommendation before the house was thoroughly deliberated.
Minister for Lands Filimoni Vosarogo says the Fiji Government has supported the capital expense of FICAC to the bill of $120 million in 17 years.
While supporting the motion on the ‘Review of the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption Annual Report 1st August 2017 to 31st July 2018, Vosarogo says they are grateful to also note from the report the guidelines that standardize the organisation that is derived out of the UN Convention against corruption which is a treaty that Fiji signed up to.
Vosarogo says it's important that we understand that one of the measures that this government has brought in to ensure that cases don’t take too long is that they have removed the specialized corruption courts which were introduced by the previous government.
He says now, when cases are brought in from FICAC, it's equally shared amongst all the magistrates and all the criminal courts.
He adds that it's encouraging to note that now, with the new Acting Deputy Commissioner being appointed to the role, she will see the importance of timely reporting back to parliament.
