LOCAL leaders in Oro have agreed to remove all squatter settlements in the province and will appoint a committee to work with the local authorities, the provincial government and National Government to carry this out.
The unanimous decision was reached at a meeting last Saturday.
Former Oro governor Sylvanus Siembo said they would meet again this Saturday to finalise the committee members and work out the action plan.
He said they were concerned that settlers, most of whom were not from Oro, were supporting another non-Oro person who was challenging the election of Ijivitari MP David Arore.
Mr Siembo, who is the interim chairman of the committee, said Oro people had never stood for election in other provinces.
“I will not contest an election in Simbu or Sepik if I was a settler there.
“It would be worse if, as a settler, I were to challenge the election win of an ‘asples’ (local person) in court,” he said and questioned the motive of the petitioner.
He said it would be better for the challenger and others like him to withdraw their petitions and work with the new crop of young and educated MPs to develop the province.