Kipo settlement residents get land title to blocks

RESIDENTS of the Kipo settlement were delighted and proud to receive their land title – the first under the settlement-to-suburb project initiated by the National Capital District Commission (NCDC).
Housing and Urban Development Minister Justin Tkatchenko told The National that NCDC was working with his ministry and the Department of Lands to undertake the project.
He said Kipo was the first to be chosen for the project because it was an organised settlement with community associations of respective ethnic groups.
“The settlement comprises people from Eastern Highlands, Chimbu and Morobe, who have lived there for three to four generations,” he said.
“This land was surveyed by the Department of Lands and Physical Planning and it is State land and NCDC will hold the title in trust.
“There were claims that this land was customary land, I want to inform the public that this is State land and that the claims are not true.”
Tkatchenko said the land would be subdivided and organised into individual blocks for people living in the settlement.
He said the people there were hardworking and deserved to be the first in the city to receive the titles.
“When I was lands minister, I worked with NCD Governor Powes Parkop to secure this land and the title has been issued for this settlement,” he said.
“The land is being finalised into subdivisions and everyone will be given a title, depending on their blocks.
“Kipo is a model and an example for other settlements in the city to learn from what they have done.”
Tkatchenko acknowledged Parkop and the National Government for implementing the project and they will consider working on the other settlements.
“The people of Kipo were overwhelmed because they have been working on this land to get the title for many years and they have eventually been rewarded,” he said.
“Wanigela village received its title for the land with the help of the NCD governor and the Lands Department under similar arrangements.”