Nine-Mile settlement gets land titles

The settlement upgrade program in Port Moresby North-East district will begin at the Nine-Mile ridge.

Member for Moresby North-East and Minister for Housing and Urban Development, John Kaupa, announced this during the launch of the Nine-Mile ridge community service association last Friday.

Minister Kaupa said he has submitted more than 30 applications to the Lands Department, working in line with the Urbanisation and NCDC technical teams to obtain the title.

He has received the first 5 titles which are undeveloped state land, which the Minister for Lands is using his power to give to the people of Moresby North-East. The first one is the Moitaka ridge portion 2219 where the current clinic is located.

“That is a very big achievement for my electorate and I thank the Lands and Physical Planning Minister, Justin Tkatchenko, for issuing this title for my district. It is a great relief for our people who have struggled to have proper housing and land title in all our settlements in the District,” Kaupa said.

“The safety and security of that land is now guaranteed for our residents to build good houses.

“It is my vision to see our people living in the settlement receive proper recognition of land security and title. I am putting into action the settlement upgrade program that was captured in my 5 year development plan.”

Minister Kaupa told the community that the settlement upgrade program was recently launched by NCD Governor Powes Parkop, which will soon be rolled out in Moresby North-East, South and West.

“I thank the Nine-Mile ridge community for your initiative in the formulation of the association to benefit from our Government’s policy on settlement upgrade program.”

As the program is rolled out in all settlements in the city, Kaupa has urged the people to cooperate with the technical team from his Urbanisation and NCDC physical division office, who will be on ground to do the actual division of allotment of sections and sub division of the portions.

“Three quarters of all settlers are living in Moresby North-East. Most of the land that people are settling on at Six-Mile, Five-Mile, Wildlife, Eight-Mile and the Nine-Mile Moitaka are all State land while some are customary,” stated Kaupa.

“So what Governor Powes, Minister Justin Tkatchenko and myself are doing, through the National Capital District Commission, is to give security of land title to our people.”

Minister Kaupa said all the settlements in the city consist of both the public and private sector elites, including retirees, and as the city expands, they cannot just remove them since they have all contributed enormously to the growth of this nation.

“Now we are providing the political will and support to legalise all the settlement in my district and the city so it can properly be developed into a suburb or village for our citizens to live in peace,” Kaupa said.

“The Nine-Mile ridge settlement is one of the portion titles we have received from the Lands Department. It has 17 hectares of land that covers over 3,000 block holders with over 20,000 people living in it.

“We will identify everyone who lives in this portion and issue land titles to the genuine owners, but let me warn you not to sell this title to another person. This is your security to have a legal title to live in peace with your family without fear of being bulldozed by land grabbers. You must build a proper house to live in.

“My technical teams from Urbanisation Office with the NCDC will come and do proper sub division of the portions so people have access to utilities such as water, power and road accessibilities.”

Kaupa also appealed to his people in the electorate to discourage tribal conflicts and ethnic violence, saying it has no place in a modern city.

“We are a metropolitan district, with people from all over Papua New Guinea living here. We must respect each other, stop tribal ethnic violence in settlement and live as family and civilised people.”

(Member for Moresby North-East and Minister for Housing and Urban Development, John Kaupa, being ushered by two Simbu girls to the grand stand at Nine-Mile ridge settlement last Friday)

 

Author: 
Press release