Northern needs magistrate, judge

NORTHERN urgently needs another magistrate for the district court and a residential judge.
The senior provincial magistrate is handling all the cases including civil, criminal, land, family and other cases alone and it’s not fair.
The people of Northern acknowledge and thank this magistrate, who is believed to have cleared the backlog of cases dating back many years.
The magistrate is doing a marvellous job in turning up on time and dealing with cases and making the court users happy unlike in the past.
The need for more magistrates is a 45-year problem.
I know of previous magistrates who transferred to other provinces and left behind backlog of cases because they were overwhelmed by the workload.
According to the Karai Radio news on Friday evening, there is need for resident judges for Gulf, Northern, West Sepik and Jiwaka.
Jiwaka Governor Dr William Tongamp and his provincial government have made a commitment to build court infrastructure, including a residential judge’s house.
That is commendable because judicial services are very important for peace and good order in communities.
I am a frequent court user and from my experience, I believe the news is soothing and a relief to the court users of Jiwaka.
As for Northern, I don’t know if there are any plans to improve the judicial services in our province for our benefit, but perhaps, it may take another 45 years for houses to be built for magistrates and judges to come to the province and provide us timely and efficient judicial services.

Enjo Namekona