Mekeo-Kuni LLG

This follows Justice Allan David’s ruling on the disputed facts which will be deliberated on by the full court.

The betelnut control law of 2013 was created under the NCDC Act to regulate the selling of betelnut in the nation’s capital, in its bid to change the attitude of city residents.

However, a law that was meant for NCDC has gone beyond the borders of NCDC, affecting the people of Central Province, in particular, the Mekeo-Kuni LLG people of Kairuku, who are large-scale growers of betelnut.

A trial was conducted by Justice Allan David on Wednesday afternoon and this morning to settle those facts and have witness statements tendered in court before the actual hearing can take place before a five-judge Supreme Court bench.

The special reference was filed in July last year and was supposed to be heard by the court last week, however that was not done because parties; lawyers representing the people of the Mekeo-Kuni LLG in the Kairuku-Hiri District, the NCDC and the Speaker of Parliament did not agree to the disputed fact which the court will look into.