Settlers’ homes bulldozed

By ELLEN TIAMU
FAMILIES at Kau Banis, at Bundi camp, in Lae, yesterday were left homeless after bulldozers cleared the land for the Papindo Trading Company.
Police said the settlers had been given notice by the company to leave the area.
Papindo had sought a court order and with the help of police moved onto the land with bulldozers and removed everything including homes and gardens. 
Lae police chief Nema Mondiai said there would be more demolition of squatter settlements on State land.
Chief Supt Mondiai said customary landow­ners needing to remove settlers from their land should seek court orders before police would be asked to help in the eviction exercise.
He said evictions began at the weekend at Banana Block and Jawani.
Settlers living on state land had been given a 14-day notice by the Lae district administration to vacate the areas.
He said failure to do so “will result in bulldozers moving in and destroying everything to the ground”.
Police have established that these most recent settlements were breeding grounds for pickpockets and illegal street vendors, problems that led to the trouble between Morobeans and Highlanders last month.
Mondiai said the declaration of a fighting zone would stand until the end of January.
He said an alcohol ban was still in force as well.