Power outage delays hearing of O’Neill, Manning’s cases

A TWO-DAY emergency power shutdown at the Waigani National Court main building delayed the hearing of two cases of major public interest.
The power outage which started on Tuesday continued yesterday, delaying the case of former prime minister Peter O’Neill, accused of abuse of office in relation to the purchase of two diesel generators worth K50 million from Israel in 2013.
Hearing of an objection to competency application challenging the State’s appeal against a National Court decision that nullified the appointment of Police Commissioner David Manning could not proceed due to the power problem.
Both cases along with others were expected to return today.
A memorandum issued by the acting secretary of National Judicial Staff Services (NJSS) Humphrey John gave notice that the continuation of the shutdown of the court due to power outage was to give ample time to NJSS and its contracted electricians and electrical engineers to continue with remedial work on the major and unsafe power problem currently experienced in the main court complex building.