MEMBER for Namatanai and Forests Minister Walter D Schnaubelt has refuted alleged social media claims he opened an offshore bank account for logging firms to deposit certain amounts to the account.
Facebook and certain WhatsApp groups are inundated with the recent alleged claim: A secret bank account in Singapore.
“A first time MP and a Minister of State with the current Marape Government opened an account with DBS Bank of Singapore under a private company name and instructed all logging companies in PNG to deposit between $3 to $10/m3 into this account. Reliable sources have confirmed that companies in PNG have so far deposited more than USD 5 million. It is also alleged that an executive to the minister or the party the minister is leading, is also involved with this arrangement now confirmed to also have similar arrangement in Jakarta, Indonesia.”
Minister Schnaubelt who is away on an official engagement in Dubai for the Expo 2020 when asked responded: “My response to this social media circulation above by Ambassador Gabriel Dusava and others on other social media platforms that I have something to do with a Singapore bank account that has substantial amount of money in it.”
“In the first instance, I was very surprised that our Amb. G Dusava, who I have the utmost respect for, for many years would assist in circulating this garbage against me without first verifying its authenticity, I’m now wondering if it was his PPP (People’s Progress Party) connections that compelled him to circulate this rubbish or others, it’s common knowledge by now that my number one political rival in NIP is PPP.
“Firstly, I refute outright this claim n have no idea who owns this account and what the account balance stated in this circulation is about. I will no doubt at this juncture seek legal means to bring to justice those who are involved in these faceless and false allegations against me as State Minister for Forests in the public domain, names and mobile numbers have been already collated for further processing in my legal defence.
“I boiled this whole accusation down to certain politically motivated individuals who are attempting to discredit my reputation on the eve of NGE22 (National General Election 22) and or seeking an opportunity to replace me as Forests Minister, this is not surprising at this juncture…
“Throw enough mud at him and hope some stick so we create doubt in our voters/PM’s mind not to elect him come NGE22 or remove him from office now and create the perception of his inability as a leader to led such position. I guess it’s all part of “How to Play the Game,” Schnaubelt said.
He said there are a lot of questions to ponder on why the accusation has come about at a time like this and labelled against him.
“Well, we’re all aware of the systemic corruption n the lack of compliance enforcement at Forest Authority that exist dating back to Bethlehem days, meaning way before my time this bad practices have been in existence.
“But since being installed as Minister for Forestry by Prime Minister James Marape Government on 24th Dec 2020 and took office officially from 11th Feb, 21, I have been fighting against these bad practices ever since from within forestry and to some extent externally as well.
“So, since Feb’21 I have placed immense pressure on all logging companies to comply with their permit conditions and pay up all outstanding royalties and levies they owed to Forest Authority and landowners. These outstanding are dated back to 2014; unfortunately, we don’t have proper records beyond that period and most companies have closed up and no longer operating today.
“This is frustrating to say the least that we cannot hold them to account today but I’ll continue exploring that option whilst I focus immediately on preventing current royalties and levies from falling behind in arrears again. This is my duty to Country & People n it necessitates me to do the right thing as best as I can as Minister responsible today,” Minister Schnaubelt said.