New law to enable more home buyers: Rosso

The National Main Stories

MORE Papua New Guineans will be able to buy a home under the country’s Strata Title Laws (STL), Lands Minister John Rosso says.
Rosso said this during the Lae Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) breakfast on Friday concerning the STL which was passed by Parliament last month.
“The law will allow for the development of townhouses, units, and apartments at all levels – low, middle and high end, both on land and building.
“For instance, we could now mobilise informal settlements into strata-titled communities at the low end and have large scale estates with full amenities within a master-planned gated community setting at the high end.
“Within the urban village context, the lessons generated from the pilot projects combined with the STL will potentially assist in modernising our urban villages,” Rosso said.
“The STL implements one of the government’s policies on ensuring housing affordability, creating income-generating opportunities, enabling Papua New Guineans to enter the property market, and creating a pathway to build wealth in the property sector.”
He said putting a roof over one’s head with secure tenure required investment in a secure land title, trunk infrastructure, and approved building designs and plans.
He said this was where government policy and intervention were critical to making this process work.
He said it required the entire government system to work in partnership with the financial institutions, private sector, community groups, families, and individuals.
“The bottom line is to unlock scale land for economies of scale.
“Economies of scale is the only way to bring down the unit cost of development and, subsequently, housing and therefore making it affordable for Papua New Guineans to put a roof over their head,” Rosso said.
“While this requires innovative policy, legislation, and administration on the part of the State, the engagement and participation of the mainstream private sector, State-owned enterprises, financial institutions, and the wider community/ stakeholders, especially the landowners of this country who still hold ownership to more than 90 per cent of the county’s landmass is critical.”
Ross said in his terms as Lands Minister, he had started the process by facilitating the grant of State leases on four pilot projects:

  • CUSTOMARY land – Tuhava Township within the Napanapa Peninsula in Port Moresby;
  • STATE land – Nambawan Super’s 8/9 Mile Project in Port Moresby;
  • RESETTLEMENT of mine affected communities and the development of a township on Lihir Island, New Ireland; and,
  • FACILITATING Comrade Trustee Services to secure land to develop housing for their members at both Taurama and Igam barracks.