Back in April the Moresby South MP, Dame Carol Kidu during Question Time informed Mr O’Neill that the National Housing Corporation should go to court to take out injunctive orders to stop any eviction on their staff residing at Paga Hill located at Portion 1597. Dame Carol said this while supporting the stories reported in the two dailies on the attempted move by Paga Hill Holdings to evict NHC tenants residing at Paga Hill last week as illegal.
Mr O’Neill said it was not the intention of his Government to go out there and remove Papua New Guineans and throw them out on the road. “I am now informed these portions of land were obtained fraudulently including the fringe of land next to the wharf.
But looks like it’s too late, the Paga Hill Holding company began their moves today.
Picture by Sam Moko
Sam Moko who took the above picture reported the following on facebook:
“Police punched me, broke my camera’s mic and held my camera for 4 hours. I was covering the demolition of paga settlement this morning. Thanks to Lady Carol Kidu for been there and speaking hard to the cops who eventually gave my camera back. Very sad to women and children rushing around while the escavator under heavy presence of cops push down their houses in front of them.
Cybele Druma also reported this on facebook:
“UPDATE ON PAGA SETTLEMENT: The exercise today, which Dame Carol has termed as ‘disgraceful’ turned out to be a demolition not an eviction. The police tried to arrest her and she told them to go ahead. They responded by saying she was resisting arrest and started dragging her down the hill in front of many eyewitnesses. While Dame’s brave actions and a Court Order by the residents has halted the demolition, the damage has been done. Tonight there are families with nowhere to go and the rainy weather adds more stress to their predicament, especially for those with children and babies. While Dame’s brave actions and a Court Order by the residents has halted the demolition, the damage has been done. Dame Carol was informed that there was shooting prior to her arrival at the scene, and cameras were broken by the police. Fortunately, Dame was accompanied by an Australian journo who was able to capture sufficient footage of the exercise. Dame Carol is determined to stop this development, but requires public support.”
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