Judge asks Central to meet cost

THE Central provincial government has been asked to subsidise the cost of court circuits there.
This was because the provincial government has never helped in delivering justice in the province.
Judge Justice Panuel Mogish told representatives of the Central provincial administration that though justice was a fundamental human right, it came with a price.
Mogish has been conducting court circuits in Central for the last four years.
He said it cost K685,000 to conduct three  circuits a year, where a single circuit cost K226,000.
Mogish said most of the expenses were for accommodation.
Government agencies that contributed to meeting the costs were the national judiciary services, the Office of the Public Prosecutor, the Office of the Public Solicitor and the Correctional Services. “The provincial administration didn’t support us. Yet we come to the Central province and deal with the people here,” Mogish said.
“We need to work in partnership”.
He said the worst case scenario was for him to stop going out to Central to conduct court circuit, but to conduct it at the Bomana National Court in Port Moresby, adding that it was not fair for the rural people.