Hon. John Kaupa: Settlements Must Respect the Rule of Law or Be Prepared to Face Consequences.

As leaders of Port Moresby City, it is incumbent upon us to provide firm and responsible leadership to create a safe, secure, and better city for all our residents.

What has occurred at Two Hill Settlement must serve as a strong lesson to all settlements that do not respect the rule of law.

We will no longer tolerate ethnic clashes, murder, harassment, rape, or any form of lawlessness within settlements in the Moresby North East Electorate.

I have worked closely with relevant authorities to progressively transform settlements within my electorate into planned suburbs.

Over the past four years, significant progress has been made in securing state lease titles at 8 Mile, 9 Mile, Morobe Block, Bomana Turn-Off, 9 Mile Cemetery (back area), and parts of Saivara.

In addition, 117 hectares of land at Farea from the Moiha Clan and 200 hectares at 14 Mile have been secured.

Subdivision and titling work is ongoing and will be completed based on the availability of funding. This is a massive undertaking and nothing happens overnight.

I appeal to all residents to remain patient. What is important is that land portions are properly titled. Law-abiding residents will not be evicted.

However, those who break the law will be dealt with firmly and, if necessary, forced to relocate, as seen at Two Mile. We must be tough.

Our vision is to create better suburbs for hardworking people in the public and private sectors, as well as those involved in small and medium enterprises who respect the rule of law and pay their taxes to NCDC.

We will not accommodate vagrants or individuals who continue to cause problems in our city. There will be zero tolerance for lawbreakers.

On that note, there are no immediate plans to relocate any individuals evicted for lawbreaking into the Port Moresby North East Electorate.

I strongly appeal to all residents to remain vigilant and not accommodate known lawbreakers in our communities. Doing so only invites further problems.

Such individuals should be reported immediately to my office or to the police.

I commend the NCD Police Command for a job well done and assure them of my continued support.

Similar actions will be taken against any settlement that continues to defy the law. We can no longer tolerate lawlessness in our city.

Hon. John Kaupa, MP

Member for Port Moresby North East