MALAITA Ma’asina Forum (MMF) has urged the Parliamentary Opposition group and other out spoken civil society groups to take the DCC government in court over the string of controversial decisions it made recently.
Speaking during the press conference early this week, MMF General Secretary Charles Ashley said government’s decision to release payment for boat hiring during the eve of the Prime Minister’s election and channelling of disaster relief fund to 33 MPs’ discretion were bad decisions.
“Hence, MMF does not support the government for these controversial decisions, but throwing everything in the public will not address our grievance unless the matter is taken to court,” he said.
“MMF is a civil society group and cannot take matters to court because this involve costs and we don’t have money do that, so Opposition is in the right position to do that,” he further stated.
“If we just talk over these issues in the media and facebook then this won’t change the decisions made by the Cabinet, and this is the end of it.”
Mr Ashley added that under the Act only the National Disaster Council has the legal right over disaster funds, thus only place to prove this is in court.
“For the case of the boat hiring, the actual break down of the costs will be made available only in court, where doubts and questions could be proven over huge amount of money paid by the government after the company receive insurance payment from the insurer,” he said.
He further noted that only the law determines the system, therefore Opposition must take this matter to court rather than barking time and again in the media.
Mr Ashley stressed the fear to challenge these controversial decisions in court could be obvious in some sense that the Opposing MPs could be beneficiaries of such decisions as well, or maybe because of the same attitude practised during their term in government.
By AATAI JOHN