The Lae Metropolitan Commander Chief Superintendent, Anthony Wagambie, is urging the Morobe Provincial Government and relevant authorities to consider evicting people who are illegally settling on state land.
His comment follows the recent ethnic clash that erupted at the Banana block on Friday afternoon.
Wagambie, said these people are settling on the state land and yet they cannot live in peace. Wagambie is calling on Lae District and the Morobe Provincial Government to seriously start thinking of evicting settlers.
Since taking up his post in Lae, much of his time has been focused on quelling settlement clashes between ethnic groups.
The Lae Metropolitan Commander’s comment follows the recent clash at the Banana Block last Friday. It was alleged that an escapee started the fighting when it escalated into widespread fighting between two groups. Four houses have reportedly been torched.The fighting has been between two groups who have been illegally settling on state land. This is not the first incident in the area.
Over the last 20 years, successive provincial administrations have attempted to evict settlers. While there has been temporary relief, it has not really solved the crime problem. .
This is the second time the Lae Metropolitan Commander has made a call to the provincial government to remove illegal settlers living on state land. He made a similar call earlier this month when an ethnic clash broke out at the Boundary road area, adding that illegal settlers are the cause of problems in the community and putting constraint on police manpower.
