By GABRIEL FITO
The Wewak District Court house staff has continued their sit-in protest into the New Year following the break-in and stealing at the Dagua Court House last Dec 12.
Soon after the incident, the public counters at the Dagua and Wewak Hill Court Houses were ordered shut by the senior provincial magistrate to show their frustration on why such a vital service could become target of criminals.
The public, who have been trying to access district court services for the last three weeks, were all turned away with instruction to help police bring the culprits to face justice before they could offer their services to the public.
The senior provincial magistrate Jeremiah Singomat was not available for comment yesterday.
However, sources from the court house said yesterday that they would still continue to close their doors to the public if Mr Singomat did not say otherwise.
“Mr Singomat is not available this week but when he returns to work next week, he would say as to whether we open our doors to the public or not.
“But in the meantime, we are still closed until further notice,” sources said.
The incident which occurred towards the end of last year, saw a computer, an electronic typewriter, a floor fan, a National Court recording equipment and three microphone stands stolen from the Dagua Court House.
Some of the stolen items were recovered by police and returned to the Clerk of Court.
However, a senior magistrate had told The National that they were not worried about the items.
The magistrate said their concern was that those responsible must be identified and apprehended by police.
The magistrate had said that unless these culprits were apprehended, people would not be able to access the district court’s services.