On Friday Taur Matan Ruak warned that any civil servant found facilitating outside parties to acquire government contracts would be “tried in court,” and if found guilty, “you will go to jail.”

The comments come amid allegations that some members of the former government accepted gifts from service providers during the tender process of some government projects.

Ruak said any implication of graft connected to the government set a “dangerous precedent.”

Clarifying what constituted as gifts, Fidelis Mangalhaes, the Minister of Reform and Legislative Affairs, told media that cash incentives in excess of US$250 must be passed to the Council of Ministers.

Mangalhaes also said the Prime Minister had banned government members from receiving free travel and staying in luxury international hotels at the expense of parties involved in government projects or attempting to secure a government contract.

"If one member of the government receives a prize money from the employer, it must be notified to the Director General that the money received from the businessman is transferred to the poor," Mangalhaes said.