Disabled enter more land feud

BULLDOZERS on Tuesday went into the settlement adjacent to the Lae Disabled Homes and removed houses, gardens and trees to make way for development.
The awarding of the large block of swampland by the Morobe provincial government to Highlands businessman Joseph Kobol was not without opposition from other applicants and the People Living With Disabilities, who own part of the land.
The block of land begins on Salamanda Street, next to the Lae showground.
Under an MoU signed between the provincial government, People Living With Disabilities and Kobol, it was agreed that Kobol would develop a modern complex for disabled people.
On Tuesday morning, two bulldozers moved in and began levelling work, taking people squatting there by surprise.
Settlers said although they had received an eviction notice earlier, they were not told that development would begin yesterday. Many lost their personal belongings that were still in their houses when the bulldozers brought the structures down.
Squatters said about 1,000 people would be affected. With nowhere to go, they planned on building shelters at a nearby sports field  before deciding their next course of action.
People with disabilities and their families and guardians at their compound said they did not know what would happen and could only wait and see.