Bleak X’mas for 5,000 evicted settlers in Port Moresby
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Bleak X’mas for 5,000 evicted settlers in Port Moresby
PORT MORESBY: About 5,000 people who have been squatting on land
belonging to a church here for more than 20 years were evicted yesterday –
about a week before Christmas.
The settlers and their families wept as they watched
excavators and bulldozers flattened their houses.
National Capital District and Central commander ACP
Anthony Wagambie Jr said the families were given a 30-day notice by the
landlord, the Assemblies of God church, before police moved in to maintain law
and order.
Details of the eviction were reported by The National:
Forced to
leave
December 14, 2021The
NationalMain Stories
By STAFF REPORTERS
Assistant Commission of Police Anthony Wagambie Junior, the police commander
for the National Capital District and Central, said the families, estimated to
be around 5,000, had been told of the eviction by the landlord, the Assemblies
of God church, over 30 days before police moved in with the bulldozer and
excavator yesterday.
“The eviction (yesterday) was initially delayed because senior police officers
at the helm of this eviction were embroiled in a tense argument with the
disgruntled settlers,” he said.
“After explaining to them the existence of a court order, police waited for the
settlers to move their belongings before the machines swung into action.”
National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop could not be reached for a
comment yesterday.
But he had told the
Garden Hills squatters last month that they would be resettled elsewhere.
“I stated to them in June of this year that we would be settling them,” he
said.
“For us, it has been a matter of securing land to resettle them. It has taken a
while. In the city, we don’t have land powers. We only have planning powers.
And with planning powers, we cannot do this resettlement.
“We are doing this as part of our goal that the city becomes a planned city.
This means no more disorganised settlements.
“The land earmarked to resettle them has been approved by the Minister for
Lands, and we are on the verge to registering the survey plan and then we get
the title.”
ACP Wagambie said it was disheartening to see people displaced from where their
homes but citizens must also respect the law when coming to live in the city.
He said the police were only enforcing a court order obtained by the landlord.
“Police will maintain presence at Garden Hills until the demolition and
eviction exercise is completed,” he said.
Primary school
teacher Stanley Tonny who lives there said the Government should be looking
after its citizens better.
“If you are removing a house, you are removing a family who resides there.
Their homes are being destroyed and I do not know where would they will go,” he
said.
Tonny, 43, said he was born and raised in the settlement.
“We were born and raised here and living here while serving the government and
paying tax. Now we are being evicted,” Tonny said.
Peter Sika from Henganofi, Eastern Highlands, who works as a security guard
said he had nowhere to go.
He had been living there after moving from Goroka 10 years ago.
“I regard this place as my home and
get to know people here. This eviction is a surprise and I am not sure where to
go right now,” Peter said who lives with wife Julie and one-year-old son Moses.
They plan to move in with relatives at Hohola and Tokarara while looking for a
home to rent.
Gumu Goina from Rigo, Central, who moved in with his son three months ago said
he would move back to the village.
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