Various court battles over land have become a hindrance to development in urban cities.
Minister for Sports, Special Events, & APEC, and Moresby South MP, Justin Tkatchenko, said various court battles over land have caused headaches for him as well as for NCD Governor, Powes Parkop.
Tkatchenko made his comments following a recent court ruling, lifting a court injunction against the municipal government from using land on which the Koki market sits.
The injunction was made after a private developer claimed ownership of the land and took NCDC to court.
“In Moresby South, I have four other cases I have going on about land, about individuals stealing public land.
“And this is a headache for Governor and I because all we want to do is develop the land for the benefit of our people,” Tkatchenko said.
He said he was voted in to look after the interest of everyone in his electorate and not a few selfish individuals.
He added that all public land should be used for the social and economic benefit of everyone through the construction of public amenities.
“We’ve never had these sort of facilities ever. These have only come up in the last four years.
“And when we are trying to assist the public, private selfish individuals come in and try and steal it from our people. As far as I’m concerned, we’ve had enough.”
Governor Parkop says they will protect public land even if it means going to court.
“Public space in our city is getting very limited, of course we want development, we want commercial and industrial, and other type of residential development in our city but we’ve got to have a balance.
“We can’t just have land utilised for one particular activity because human activity and livability in the city depends on balance,” said Parkop.