An eviction exercise was conducted this week for 297 plaintiffs residing on state land in Kimbe, West New Britain Province.
The evictees have now been repatriated to their home provinces.
The first 97 people who had resided in Section 21 in the town area departed Kimbe on Monday night on MV Ialibu to Lae. They are from the Morobe and Highlands provinces.
The second group of 200 left Kimbe on Wednesday night onboard MV Momase and arrived in Wewak yesterday. They are all from East Sepik Province.
The repatriation began this week following a court order issued by the Bialla National Court on May 19 2021.
The court ordered that the plaintiffs be repatriated to their home provinces by the defendant, the WNB Provincial Government.
The court issued the order after both parties agreed for repatriation of the plaintiffs back to their provinces of origin. This ended the court battle which began in 2009.
The provincial government is meeting the cost of moving the properties of the plaintiffs, and transportation, including bus fares, to their final destinations.
The next trip is expected on July 19.
Various provincial governments like Morobe, Madang, East and West Sepik, including the Highlands, have been informed of the repatriation exercise.
This current repatriation is only involving the plaintiffs as ordered by the court.
Photo/Story credit: Nicole Joannes Tautik
