Douglas Tomuriesa, Pope Francis and James Marape

-
Image
  Opposition Leader Douglas Tomuriesa said he is disappointed and embarrassed over the way His Holiness Pope Francis was treated by Prime Minister James Marape over the last three-days during the Papal visit, and the lack of courtesy and respect shown by the Prime Minister. He said the Prime Minister continuously declares PNG as a ‘Christian country’ and prides himself on being a religious individual but he was surprised when the Pope was continuously snubbed by the PM over the weekend since the Pope’s arrival on Friday. “The Pope is the head of the Catholic church, the largest Christian church in the world and he is also a head of state. “PNG not only being a Christian country, but a country that prides itself as a ‘friend to all, enemy to none’, the PM should be according the Pope with the highest level of respect,” Tomuriesa said. The Opposition Leader pointed out that on Friday, the Prime Minister did not welcome the Pope at the airport, a tradition he had accorded to many othe...
Post a Comment

CJ: Cops must serve warrants

-

 


Main Stories

By BEVERLY PETER and CLARISSA MOI
CHIEF Justice Sir Gibbs Salika says more than 6,000 bench warrants are pending execution nationwide and blames the police for failing to carry out the court orders.
“A total of 6,372 warrants are still pending and need to be executed by police,” he told The National yesterday.
“Due to the police failure to carry out court orders to serve the warrants, the cases have been piling up for about seven years.”
Sir Gibbs revealed that more than 11,000 criminal cases were still pending with more than half of it bench warrant cases.
“Total pending criminal cases is 11,221 as of last December.
“That comprises of people on bail, custody and bench warrants.
“But we will find strategies not to count those bench warrants because it is the work of the police to get them and they are not doing that.
“Bench warrant cases are a problem and are being added yearly.
“Bench warrant cases constitute about 55 per cent of the cases that are still pending,” he lamented.
Sir Gibbs said of the 11,221 pending criminal cases, 5,000 were the ones on bail and in custody while the rest were on bench warrants.
“Police should go and serve the bench warrants so that they are brought to court.
“If police can execute the bench warrants (efficiently), it will help the system to get rid of those cases and move on with the new ones.
“It is a massive task and for that reason, we need more judges.
“The judiciary needs about 60 judges.
“We have got the budget to have 55 judges.
“Currently, we have 36 substantive judges and 12 acting judges.
“If we can get 12 new judges, I believe that will be enough to deal with a good number of cases to offload the pile of cases,” he added.
Sir Gibbs said one of the ways to deal with the backlog of cases quickly was to transfer some of the pending cases to alternative dispute resolution (mediation).
“One week each month is allocated for mediation and mediators, with a few judges involved in mediating those cases so that more cases can be disposed of instead of waiting for the court,” he said.
“We believe that there are cases that can be mediated.
“We can sit down, discuss the matter and come to a solution to mediate the dispute and the case is then disposed.
“This will save judges from writing decisions and judgments.
“This is the initiative we will take to try and reduce the backlog of cases for this year,” he added.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

REMNANT AJ Group Limited donated a new vehicle to NHC

-
Image
  REMNANT AJ Group Limited, one of the contactor who was engaged by the National Housing Corporation to connect the sewage system at the NHC’s new Durand Project site donated a new vehicle to NHC on Friday, 7th June, 2024. The key of the new vehicle that costed the company close to K150, 000 was presented to the NHC’s project management division who will be using the vehicle to do inspection on the Durand project site on a daily basis. NHC Acting Managing Director Abel Tol while thanking the Company Managing Director Andy Minok, he said purchasing a vehicle by the contractor and donating it to NHC was one of the requirement written on the Contract signed. Tol said this company, Remnant AJ Group Limited was awarded a K3. 2 Million worth Project and that was to fix and connect the sewage system from the MacGregor Police Barracks all the way to the main Sewer. This contract was awarded to this named company in July last year and this is one of the few contractors who were engaged by N...
Read more

MARAPE’S DECISION DEFICIENCY

-
Image
MARAPE’S DECISION DEFICIENCY* Wednesday 5 June 2024 Approved for release – Recently some political commentators who blindly endorse Hon James Marape as the Prime Minister, decried the Opposition’s push for a VONC, arguing that “a change in the Prime Minister will not fix the problems the country has.” This is where they are wrong. Decisions have the power to affect people and the decisions, or indecision, of a Prime Minister, affect the nation. This is the most important leadership quality that evades Marape – the innate ability to make decisions that are in the country’s best interests.  If Marape was serious about the country, he would make the following decisions to save PNG:  1) Review the national budget and cut spending, stop borrowing, and reduce taxes.  2) Give the Central Bank their independence back.  3) Stop printing money at the Central Bank.  4) Stop Connect PNG and other pork-barrel programs.  5) Give each province Block Grants and greater aut...
Read more

Speaker's Decision Sparks Controversy in Parliament

-
Image
The parliament’s speaker Job Pomat’s decision on Wednesday has ignited a fierce debate among members, highlighting the complexities and challenges of parliamentary procedures.  In a phone interview yesterday afternoon with Kalang News, Douglas Tomuriesa, the Member for Kiriwina-Goodenough, and the Opposition Leader expressed the oppositions concerns regarding the Speaker's ruling, which they argue undermines the decorum and impartiality expected of the chair. Tomuriesa emphasized the importance of maintaining respect and dignity in the House, asserting that the Speaker must embody impartiality. "The decorum of the House depends on the chair, and the respect, the dignity of the chair must always be maintained. In this case, impartiality is very important," he stated. He criticized the Speaker's approach, questioning the decision to seek court clarification after making a ruling. "It's like putting the cart before the horse. How can you make your ruling and lat...
Read more

Cockfighting ops busted

-
Image
  February 1, 20 22 Main Stories Police rounding up the men and a woman at Sumomini, West Sepik. By MIRIAM ZARRIGA in Vanimo POLICE have busted an illegal cockfighting operation run by expatriates in the mountains of Vanimo-Green’s Sumomini in West Sepik on Sunday afternoon. About 30 men from Indonesia, Malaysia and China, and a woman from Indonesia, had been taking bets on the cockfights were arrested. Police Commissioner David Manning was informed of the bust by policemen in Vanimo on Sunday afternoon after they returned from the mountains. Manning told  The National  that the cockerels were specially bred and conditioned for increased stamina and strength to get them more aggressive. “The cockerels are injected with drugs brought in by their owners. “The birds are then fitted with razors, known as gaffs, and the ‘armed’ cockerels are then put into a ring, called cockpit, to fight until one is maimed or dead. “I have told the policemen to ensure that the expatriates are...
Read more

Dragons re-sign Albert

-
Image
  August 4, 2021 Sports By PARKER TAMBUA PAPUA New Guinea Orchids captain Elsie Albert has been re-signed by the St George Illawarra Dragons for the upcoming National Rugby League Women’s (NRLW) season which kicks off in October. “When determining our squad for the upcoming campaign, we wanted to make sure we re-signed the right players from last season, those who wanted to don our jersey,” Dragons NRLW coach Matt Head said on the club’s website yesterday. “To have Elsie from the start of pre-season unlike last year will only benefit her and the club. “She’s a powerful player and an international who will be a huge asset to our club.” The 25-year-old, from Southern Highlands, was yesterday named alongside Teagan Berry, Jaime Chapman and Talei Holmes as Dragons recruits for the 2021 season. PNG Rugby Football League coaching director Michael Marum told The National that Albert deserved the call-up, given her 2020 form in the world’s premier women’s rugby league competition. “Elsie’s...
Read more