CORRUPTION UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT
Island Business The most talked about issue in Papua New Guinea is corruption and how it is eating away at the fabric of a country that is often described by its political leaders as “the land of milk and honey” and “the land of plenty”. It is as if Papua New Guinea is a “promised land” with a people promised to inherit wealth of unprecedented proportions in the Pacific region. The reality, of course, is this “land of milk and honey” and “the land of plenty” is seeing an alarming rise in poverty among its increasing urban population and a shameful denial of basic services to 80 percent of its people who live in the rural areas of the Highlands, the coastline, swamplands and the islands. It is a land with a growing youthful population that is crying for employment with no success-a land that is seeing many of its young men turning to crime for survival. Everyone says the reason for the decline in wealth and services to the ordinary people of PNG is due to the increasing level of corrupt