Politics
Madang Clamps Down on Illegal Squatters
Province wants more land for new developments
Fast growing illegal squatter settlements are threatening to turn Papua New Guinea’s urban centres into slums.
The nation’s capital, Port Moresby, is a city virtually engulfed by squatter settlements made up of the country’s numerous ethnic groups. In recent months, ethnic violence has flared amongst the settlement dwellers resulting in the deaths of five people. Travellers driving past settlements have also become victims of criminals residing there.
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Early this year a Papua New Guinea diplomat was stabbed to death by youths from a settlement who were not satisfied with the money he paid them for helping him fix a flat tyre. Relatives of the wife of the diplomat retaliated and destroyed the settlement.
At least one provincial government is making a determined effort to rid its township of illegal settlements. Madang provincial government was able to get a court order in December to evict all illegal settlements on state and customary land around the town.
Squatters were given three months to voluntarily pull down their shanties and vacate state land. A police operation to forcefully evict them was to have begun on March 9.
However, the settlers have successfully obtained a court order to delay the eviction. The National Court in Goroka ordered the Madang provincial government and settlers to identify ‘genuine settlers’ who would be given land to resettle while those deemed ‘non genuine’ would be asked to pack up and leave.
Eviction of squatter settlements is a sensitive issue because it affects people. In fact Madang provincial government has been trying to evict illegal settlers for more than 20 years. Each time though, settlers have successfully sought the help of the courts to prevent the government from moving them. Many of the settlers come from the neighbouring East Sepik province and have moved to Madang in search of employment and a better life and do not want to return home. There are also people from other provinces including the rural districts of Madang.
Life has been easy for them in Madang where access to jobs, education, health and other government services have been easy to come by.
However, the growing numbers of squatters have also created law and order problems in the once peaceful tourist town of Papua New Guinea. Serious and petty crimes have risen dramatically in Madang and court records show that majority of the perpetrators reside in settlements. Youths from the settlements roam the streets of Madang each day pouncing on every opportunity to pick pocket at bus stops or steal from shops and harass mothers at the markets.
For some years now, Madang has had a liquor ban on weekends in order to control drunken brawls in the town.
Law and order problems have deterred new investments and the expansion of businesses in the town.
These issues have tested the patience of the peaceful Madang people and they feel something has to be done. "We want to get rid of the settlements so that we can have land for new developments in Madang," said Governor, James Yali, who is carrying out the eviction exercise.
He said not all settlers would be evicted. A provincial government committee has carried out an exercise identifying ‘genuine settlers’ who will be allowed to stay.
The government has set aside land near the town to settle these people. However, this piece of land (portion 50) is at the moment occupied by illegal settlers who have chased away surveyors trying to divide the land into blocks.
The Madang government also has plans to reposition and develop the Madang Airport to international standards, and wants to establish a tuna loining plant as well as another fisheries project. These projects need land. The town is also home to a number of national institutions including the Divine Word University and Maritime College that also need land to expand.
Businesshouses in Madang have however, been alarmed by the moves to evict settlers. A significant number of Madang’s labour force resides in settlements and their removal would affect the operations of the businesshouses.
The Madang Chamber of Commerce has put the number of settlers to be affected at 10,000. But Governor Yali said this figure has been sensationalised. He said the number of actual settlers to be affected is about 1500.
The local Madang people who support the eviction exercise, have criticised the businesshouses for failing to provide proper homes for their workers. Morris Ban, spokesperson for Maus Madang Association, a group fighting for the rights of the local people, said they have been fighting to have illegal settlements removed for 20 years.
He said the businesshouses have been in Madang for a long time, however, they have not provided proper accommodation for their workers. "They have allowed them to live in settlements while they profited. What are they talking about?," he said.
Meanwhile, Madang businessman Paul Ropra has been fighting to stop the eviction exercise. He said eviction was a painful exercise as there was no proper assistance and coordination from the government to ensure that people were evacuated to where they come from.
"Our children in schools will suffer, our working class people will suffer and those who have small businesses will also lose everything, and most of all the government will be taking away our rights and dignity which is bad," he said.
The people of Madang are aware of the level of violence and poverty created by settlements in the cities of Port Moresby and Lae and they are determined to do away with the settlements.
Governor Yali has put aside K250,000 to fund the exercise of getting rid of settlements.
He said businesshouses in Madang such as Melanesian Tourist Services, Lae Builders and James Barnes Cannery have expressed interest in building proper homes for their workers who will be affected by the eviction.
He hopes this will lead to proper housing being developed for all government and private sector workers.
