Bulolo sends out SOS for magistrate

By JUNIOR UKAHA
THE absence of a permanent magistrate in Bulolo has made the work of police difficult, says police station commander Inspector Leo Kaikas.
Kaikas told The National yesterday that police had been making arrests but because there was no magistrate, they had to let the suspects go or transport them to Lae.
He said the lack of a permanent magistrate coupled with a condemned police station cell block was putting a strain on police work.
The last magistrate to serve in Bulolo, Raine Dovimo, died recently after falling ill.
Kaikas appealed to the senior provincial magistrate and the Office of the Magisterial Services to appoint a permanent residential magistrate and send him or her to Bulolo as soon as possible.
Kaikas said the Bulolo Court House served a big population.
“Police can arrest many people but where will these people go to court?” Kaikas said.
“The police, courts and Correctional Services make the justice system complete.
“If one of the three is missing then justice is not done.
“We need a permanent residential magistrate here at the Bulolo Court House so that court cases can be expedited.
“Transferring inmates to Lae for court hearings is a very expensive exercise.
“Also sending magistrates on an ad hoc basis to Bulolo is not helping.”
Aaron Nangan, the chairman of Bulolo-based Morobe Goldfield Association, has backed the Bulolo police station commander’s remarks, saying the township needed a permanent magistrate.
Nangan said lawbreakers were roaming around freely in the community because they could not be prosecuted in court because there was no magistrate.
Nangan, whose group has more than 2000 small-scale miners actively mining the Wau and Bulolo Rivers and their peripheries, said a permanent magistrate would ease the work of police and save costs of transporting district court detainees to Lae.