West Papuans get notice to leave settlement

About 250 West Papuans have been served notices of eviction by the National Capital District Commission to leave their settlement in Port Moresby.
The NCDC physical planning board officers met the settlers on a Thursday and told them to leave their settlement at Rainbow, Gerehu, which they had occupied for 11 years.
A communal leader Elly Wangai said yesterday that some of them were now PNG Citizens after former Prime Minister Peter O’Neill allowed them to gain citizenship without paying the K10,000 application fee.
“But unlike other PNG citizens, we don’t have any land to go to. When we were given citizenship, the Government did not give us land to settle. And this is the fifth time we have been evicted since 2007.
“We were first evicted from 8-Mile settlement and we settled outside the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Office at Ela Beach. “Then we moved to the Boroko Police station. Then to Apex Park at Boroko and now to here.”
Wangai said they were willing to move from the settlement.
“This is a drainage area and we know that and we will move. But we want NCDC to provide land for us.
“If NCDC can evict other PNG settlements from 2-Mile and resettle them at 6-Mile, they should do the same for us.”
Wangai said that they were given land at Red Hills in Gerehu.
“But when we went there, developments were already taking place.
“So we had to return here. Since we were given eviction notices, our children were traumatised and did not attend school.
“Our mothers who are involved in small economical activities like selling doughnuts and ice blocks have stopped.
“They are finding it hard to earn money to look after their family. If we are given land to move, we will be confident to live our daily lives.”