Unreasonable for illegal settlers to expect compensation

 MY message to the evicted illegal settlers along the banks of Bumbu River near the National Polytechnic Institute in Lae  –  the land is owned by the state. 

It was not a dump yard or a waste land as claimed by one of the evicted settlers. 

Secondly, the settler who claims to have lived there for the last 37 years is not telling the truth. 

The land used to be a gardening area for members of the police force from the Bumbu Police Barracks. 

I was a resident at Lae Technical College since 1995 and had not seen anyone living there  until  1996  when  the first makeshift structure was erected, with a lone man residing in that hut. 

That garden area used to be my drinking place I called the ‘banana lodge’. 

Then, from 1997 onwards, a number of people moved in.

In 2012 and 2013, more people relocated to that land due to  the  ethnic fights  in  the  Kamkumung settlement between the Sepiks and Chimbus. 

On humanitarian grounds, I do sympathise with you all. 

However, commonsense and civilised thinking must always prevail. 

Before  you  erect  permanent or semi-permanent structures in any land, find out who the landlord  is and get his/her approval. 

If you settle on someone else’s land illegally, please  do not expect any form of compensation because there will be none. 

You will  have  to exit the way you came in. 

Next door neighbour

Lae