Settlers at Malahang, in Lae, were given eight months to vacate the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea (ELCPNG) land.
Portion 354 at Malahang, in Lae, was the centre of a court proceeding that started in 2006 and finally came to a close on the 25th of March, this year, when Justice Paulus Dowa ruled in favour of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of PNG.
Settlers occupying that area were given four months to vacate the place; a period that lapsed on the 25th of July, which saw the ELCPNG advise settlers of the deadline.
The church further gave an additional four months for businesses and settlers to leave, and they started the process of eviction on Sunday, December 18th.
“We, as a church, did not want to affect the children who were in school. That’s why we said, we’ll wait until school is over,” said ELCPNG General Secretary, Bernard Kaisom.
“The people and businesses there totally refused to listen to the church and listen to the court. So if you do not want to listen to the court order and the church informing you the truth then yu laik harim husat?
“As church, we did our best to be humane as possible by giving them that time.”
The church said the eviction, which will be affecting more than 5,000 people, is expected to continue for an indefinite period.
“We know that there are two groups of people living there, from our findings. There are genuine people and troublemakers are living there also. Unfortunately, the troublemakers are causing a lot of problems.
“If you can recall, from the previous months, there were a lot of thefts.
“I remember, twice the police came here to talk to me; one was when the phone of the JVPNG manager was stolen and a couple of times was when, our hardworking coffee growers, after selling coffee at the Malahang Industrial Area, they held them up there and took all their money.
“So when we planned the (eviction) process, we wanted to show the settlers that this is real and we need to act.
“The two shops were removed strategically to inform them that this is real and please, go ahead and remove your structures.”
ELCPNG holds a freehold title to portion 354, which means the owner can develop the land at will, and there is no time limit to it.
The church plans on leasing it out for residential and commercial purposes, hence the eviction process.