The Department of Works and Highways is on the brink of collapse—crippled by incompetence, corruption, and leadership failure under Minister Solen Mirisim and Secretary Gibson Holemba. What was once a vital engine for national development through the Connect PNG Program has now been turned into a personal cash machine for cronies and wantoks.
Sources from within the Department reveal that Minister Mirisim is running the Department like his private business, completely ignoring due process, abandoning legitimate contractors, and stranding dozens of incomplete projects across the country. All while funneling millions in public funds into the pockets of friends and political allies.
It is alleged that over K600 million in Connect PNG funds were mismanaged and misappropriated during the close-of-accounts period from September to December 2024, with no transparency or accountability. While contractors wait helplessly at project sites, Mirisim and Holemba are believed to be approving payments to shady operators in exchange for backdoor cuts.
Insiders say it plainly: “The Department has gone to the dogs.”
There is no leadership. No vision. No commitment to the Marape-Rosso Government’s flagship infrastructure policy. Just greed, deals, and decay.
The people of Papua New Guinea deserve answers.
Why are genuine contractors unpaid while ghost companies are rewarded?
Why is there no audit of how Connect PNG funds were spent during the final quarter of 2024?
Who are the beneficiaries of these questionable payments?
This is no longer speculation. It is a developing scandal. And soon the truth will come out—names, amounts, and the networks behind them.
If Prime Minister James Marape is serious about clean leadership, the first action must be a total cleanup of the Department of Works and Highways—starting with the immediate suspension of Minister Solen Mirisim and Secretary Gibson Holemba, and an independent investigation into the K600 million mess.
The people are watching. The crooks will be named. And the Department must be taken back from the hands of corruption before it’s too late.
Whistleblower,
Works Department and Highways
Melanesia News 