PARLIAMENT yesterday learnt that the Government was planning to appeal the National Court Orders issued by Justice Ambeng Kandakasi ordering the Government to disclose details of the Gold Refinery deal.
The Minister for Justice and Attorney General Pila Niningi let the cat out of the bag when he tried to raise a point of order interrupting the Opposition Leader Joseph Lelang who rose to question Prime Minister James Marape as to when he was going to honor the court decision.
Acting Speaker Koni Iguan ruled out the point of order allowing Mr Lelang to proceed with his questions on the Gold Bullion Agreement.
Mr Lelang said the Gold Bullion Agreement which was negotiated, drafted, and driven by the government has been brought before the National Court by a private citizen.
He told Parliament that the National Court had ordered for the full details and disclosure of a government owned company and vehicle that was registered offshore and its share arrangements, to be made public.
“Will the Prime Minister divulge copies of the Agreement, National Executive Council (NEC) submissions and decisions, the company details and all negotiations and actions and table this in this House for scrutiny in line with the National Court decision?” Mr Lelang asked.
He also asked if the Prime Minister was also going to provide information on the; owners of company, shareholding arrangements, why is this company registered in Singapore and whether it was a private or publicly listed.
Lelang further stated that there were so many unanswered questions in the minds of the public on the gold refinery deal it entered into with a company from Singapore and National Gold Corporation.
Justice Kandakasi’s orders followed a court challenge mounted by owner of Golden Valley Enterprise and Citizen Justin Parker last month.
Among the orders issued, the court ordered a declaration pursuant to Section 51 of the Constitution, the plaintiff has the right to have access to all the pertinent and relevant information regarding the National Gold Refinery and Mint project.
The court ordered the Department of National Planning and Monitoring’s policy documents on the Refinery Smelting and downstream processing of Gold in the country.
Also included the statutory business papers, shareholders agreement, NEC Decision No: 73 and 84/2021 dated 17 May 2021, NEC decision No: 267/2021 dated 20th of September 2021, NEC policy submission No: 208/2021.
The PM Marape in his opening response assured the Parliament that all details on the Gold Bullion Agreement will be made public while also confirming the appeal by government on the court decision.
