Hundreds of houses, food gardens, and trees use to stand in the Bumbu Settlement area outside the city of Lae. By Tuesday, all of it was gone. More than 2,000 settlers are now left homeless following Tuesday’s eviction.
Two days after being evicted, illegal settlers along the Bumbu River in Lae city are still struggling to find a place to live.
Some have been camping under makeshift tents along the riverside while others have gone to stay with their relatives in the city.
While many are still looking for a place to resettle.
“For three days my children and I have lived under a makeshift shelter. I am very worried. I left my village to come to Morobe Province. I developed the area where I settled.” Said one mother affected by the eviction.
Police and authorities pulled down and then burned their make-shift houses; dwellings that they once called home. A court decision last Friday has ordered the settlement to be removed so that the land can be used for the development of the institute.
A church pastor from the displaced settlement had expressed anger over the manner in which they were treated during the eviction.
With Lae set to be the industrial hub of Papua New Guinea, more development is expected to take place on available state land, most of which are taken up by illegal settlements.
More eviction exercises are expected to be carried out on other illegal settlements in the city.
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