Families make way for project

 MORE than 100 families have been evicted from State land they have been living on illegally in Nipa-Kutubu district, Southern Highlands.

The eviction on Wednesday, to make way for development, has been initiated by Nipa-Kutubu MP Jeffrey Komal.

It has been carried out by the district administration with support from police and soldiers.

The families had been occupying State houses and land, including the Nipa district headquarters. 

The district wants to build homes for public servants and other government facilities.

The families were served eviction notices and forced to leave. Some of them are retired public servants who have continued to live on State property. 

Komal said the families had been living illegally on State land and they needed to build staff quarters and administration buildings on the land.

The Government has allocated K1 million for a district housing programme on top of the provincial K500,000 funding, plus K500,000 from the joint district planning and budget priorities committee.

Deputy district administrator John Harisol said records at the National Housing Commission and Lands Department showed that no one had titles over any property in the district.

Many residents said that they did not have titles over the land they occupied.

Komal said the exercise would continue to Poroma, Kutubu and Mt Bosave.