A District Court Magistrate in East New Britain province has called to centralize public institutions in order to restore trust and confidence in the youths. Kokopo District Court Magistrate, Leonard Mesmin made the call this week amidst recent youth fights in Rabaul town. Speaking during the first Rabaul District Law and Order Committee meeting on Wednesday, April 24th at the Rabaul Urban LLG Conference room, he highlighted the eroding trust and confidence of the younger generation in public institutions. “I agree with notion of idea of having court houses and police station in one central location and I agree on the basis that a lot of the younger generation that are coming up, have lost trust and confidence in public institutions,” he said. “Right now, they do not care if you are a police man, magistrate or government worker. They do not trust the decisions that we are carrying out on behalf of the Constitution or power vested in us.” Magistrate Mesmin further said one can no longer rely on trust that we thought they had in these institutions. “It is long gone so to in order to have them re-invest their trust and confidence in these institutions, we have got to show, as a move of confidence and from a position of strength, by having institutions like the court house, police stations all in one central locations within the town centre.” Additionally, He said this is so we can send the message out, that we can respond outwardly and not sporadically here and there that we will consistently deal with your issues from a main area. “In their head, they will know how they will be responded to and it is a consistent approach all the time from the same area or location and by doing that we can start to rebuild trust in public institutions again.” He said if we come together as public institutions and whenever there is a law-and-order problem outside, we move with position of strength to that area so people know there is a certain place that they can come to. Meanwhile Magistrate Mesmin said by bringing these essential services to a central location, a powerful message is conveyed—a message that reaffirms the commitment of these institutions to serve and protect the interests of the citizens they represent.