Prime Minister Pohiva told Parliament this week thirty years have gone by with very little progress in uncovering the illegal Tongan passport sale saga. He questioned the roles played on this issue by the Attorney General and Police Commissioner.
The Prime Minister told the House that he has presented three official queries on this matter but no reply has been made. The second letter he said, referred to a Chinese national whose diplomatic passport has been renewed several times and no reply has been made yet.
He added, the stall in the progress of any investigation into this matter paints a poor image of the country.
The Number 2 nobles representative for Vava’u Lord Tu’ilakepa backed the Prime Minister’s concern by suggesting that the management structure of the Ministry of Police should be reviewed because questions are being raised over the role of the Commissioner and his group of Advisors.
He added, the Prime Minister’s concern is true and any evidence of corrupt practices should be investigated but, he’s not aware of any further passport sale to date except for the law that allows diplomatic passport renewals. He acknowledged the fact that TOP$300,000 set aside for this investigation, has yielded no satisfactory result to date.