File afresh for housing privileges, students told

By DEMAS TIEN
THE National Court in Waigani has refused to hear a case filed by 20 students from the University of PNG seeking orders to be provided accommodation in campus.
Justice Colin Makail said the interim orders which reinstated the students pending their judicial review application did not cover accommodation.
Makail said it specifically ordered that the students return to class and the university to allow extension of time for the students to sit for their Semester 1 examinations.
He said it would be proper for the motion to be filed in a fresh proceeding.
Lawyer Ramsie Pariwa, representing the students, said they had filed the motion because the university, though it reinstated the students, had denied them accommodation on campus.
Pariwa said prior to the students’ expulsion on Aug 9, they were provided accommodation on campus.
UPNG lawyer Daryl Kamen told the court that the university had complied with the interim orders by reinstating the students.
But he said accommodation on campus was a privilege and not a right.
He said the university refused to accommodate the students in the campus because of their alleged misconduct which caused unrest in the campus.