Programme focuses on managing law, order issues

By HELEN TARAWA
THE rolling out of the Community Justice Services Centre is part of government’s effort in managing the law and order situation, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Justice and Attorney-General Davis Steven says.
He said it was a step in the right direction in delivering law and justice sector services to the districts.
Steven said during the signing of a memorandum of agreement to roll out the centre in Ijivitari district yesterday the programme was relevant in the districts “because a lot of the law and justice sector agency functions are managed in Waigani”.
“Under this programme, the law and justice sector is going to be mobilised and properly coordinated,” he said.
“We will see reporting mechanisms in place where we can get feedback on statistics, and policy drive and policy control.
“We are talking about decentralising the workforce control and mechanisms but the structure has never been there.”
Steven said part of the roll-out was to work towards a digitisation programme.
“This is a priority that we have identified to ensure that crime statistics are accurate.
“It’s not about number of offenders but ensuring that we can monitor a system that tracks from the moment a report is made at the police station to the higher courts.
“We must have a strategy to reintegrate to society and these centres will play that role, the centre representing a paradigm shift in the sector thinking.”
Steven praised MPs for their support.
“Today we see the partnership extending to Northern under the leadership of Ijivitari MP Richard Masere,” he said.
“District development authorities are coming forward with their funding and the burden is on us in Waigani to complement that arrangement with our component.
“And we will build their centres and ensure the arrangements are in place to follow through in terms of technical support and the digitisation.
“Not many districts are coming forward but for those who have responded, it’s an edifying sign because we can now have model districts that we will trial out and document.”
Masere who presented the counterpart funding of K200,000 to the department said the next process was to ensure that sub-districts were identified, land made available and the administration to get the project off the ground.