Settlers can get land title

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By SHARLYN ERI
People living in settlements in Port Moresby can secure land titles through the Participatory Slums/Settlement Upgrading Programme (PSUP) by working in partnership the with Development Services International (DSI).
PSUP is facilitated by the United Nations Habitat and the Office of Urbanisation in Papua New Guinea.
Under PSUP, land occupied by the settlers is put under a city-standard sub-division plan by the office of chief physical planner of Papua New Guinea.
Principal of DSI and principal consultant of PSUP in Papua New Guinea, Peter Simbakua, said PSUP was beneficial to all citizens and what needed to be done was to create a link between communities to PSUP for implementation of the project.
“Community association that we want to link the settlement community with the programme implemented by these governments and donor agencies,” Simbakua said.
“So my role is to provide the link between the relevant authorities and the communities, it’s like a bridge. So we actually are working to launch associations within the settlements to get this project going.”
Simbakua said housing was a major issue for people living in the city and the project would help to address that.
“We are all working but do not have a place to stay – renting or bunking up and people living in the housing commission flats who are having evictions one after the other and court battles and do not have the security of tenure – so this is what we are trying to address to help these people,” he said.