Supreme court orders trial into ban on betel nuts

The National National

THE Supreme Court has ordered a trial into the betel nut ban in Port Moresby that came into effect in 2013 which the people of Mekeo, in Central, say has affected them.
Judge Allen David, presiding as a single Supreme Court judge, said the court was satisfied with the seven facts presented by the Mekeo local level government in the Kairiku-Hiri district of Central.
The seven disputed facts raised by parties in a special reference filed by Mekeo Kuni local level against the National Capital District Commission and the former Speaker Theo Zurenouc in 2013 stated that the ban had affected the people Mekeo and others in Central.
Justice David ruled that the:

  • Mekeo LLG and other people in Central were harassed and abused, a breach of their constitutional rights, when the law was enforced;
  • people grow betel nuts as a national cash crop;
  • The betel nut law affected the Central people economically and socially;
  • Police were enforcing the law outside the boundaries of the National Capital District Commission.

The trial date is yet to be set.
The case started on Oct 22, 2013, when the Mekeo-Kuni LLG took the NCDC to court, claiming the ban was affecting their livelihood.
Lawyer Noel Ako, of Jema Lawyers, submitted that the ban had not been certified by the then Speaker Theo Zurenouc, and there was no proper awareness conducted before the law was enforced.
NCDC lawyer Justine Haiara opposed Ako’s submissions on the ground of lack of evidence.
Zurenouc’s lawyer, Maron Boas, said it was an enforcement law which allowed betel nut sellers to apply for permits to sell at designated places.