Bereina

She made sure polling was conducted smoothly at Bereina station in Kairuku District, Central Province this morning. 

According to voter Nicholas Aitsi, villagers along the coast of Kairuku LLG have voted peacefully. More than 90 villages and communities have gone through polling however, only some minor hiccups. 

Meantime, locals raised concerns that the electoral roll was not updated with many names missing. 

Mariano Edward Lakae of Apanaipi village, Bereina, Central province, who conspired with two others to defraud the National Provident Fund some 18 years ago, was sentenced to six years in prison. However, the court wholly suspended that jail term because the accused has since aged and the case had dragged on for too long.

The court was of the view that Lakae’s case took too long to come to finality and he suffered enough.

 Magistrate Ben Kome today allowed a final adjournment in the case involving Bereina man, Omaro Maka who was arrested and charged in June this year for dangerous driving causing death.

Maka told the court he lives in the village and it was a costly exercise travelling to Port Moresby from Bereina to attend his case.

He made these comments after Police prosecution told the court it is yet to receive instructions from the investigating officer handling the case on his progress in the investigation files.

This has been attributed to community involvement, says criminal judge Justice Panuel Mogish.

“There is too much talk and not enough action. Central Province is leading the way in executing bench warrants.”

He said while the country’s focus was on its problems and at Waigani over the past four weeks, there are positive developments in Central province, especially with the courts. 

Community involvement has made the province lead the way in the execution of bench warrants, compared to other provinces, including the National Capital District.

He called on all personnel in the law and justice sector to abide by the law and respect it to be respected in return.

“I want to remind you all police personnel, soldiers and wardens that the uniform you wear, it is not yours. It belongs to the 7 million people of Papua New Guinea,” he told officers in a parade before the start of a court user’s forum.

“Everyone contributes to that uniform you wear, it is public property. A lot of times, we hear news of policemen doing the wrong things, we don’t need that.

They were part of the public that attended the court user forum that was conducted by Criminal Judge, Justice Panuel Mogish today in Bereina.

Legal studies teacher, Ms Lisa Api, told Loop PNG her students’ attendance today was to experience the practical side of what goes on in a courtroom.

Located three hours out of Port Moresby, she said this is the first time a class from Mainohana, in particular legal studies students, get to see what goes on in the National Court.