Some houses were set on fire at the Baruni settlement in Port Moresby as the machines rampaged through the roadside settlement, violently smashing fences and cutting through trees. Photo: Supplied
Police in Papua New Guinea's capital brought in excavators to tear down houses at a squatter settlement following the rape and killing of a woman.
Some houses were set on fire at the Baruni settlement in Port Moresby as the machines rampaged through the roadside settlement, violently smashing fences and cutting through trees.
The police operation follows the abduction of a woman from a nearby housing estate.
A statement from the Assistant Commissioner for Police, NCD/Central, Ben Turi, said she had been beaten, raped, and slashed by a gang of about 30 people.
Her body was recovered from grassland near the estate.
Police believed the suspects came from the settlement, leading to the demolition of houses as they searched for the killers.
Since 2020, more than 20,000 people have been evicted from various settlements. Photo: RNZ Pacific/ Koroi Hawkins
Not the first time
It is not the first time Baruni and nearby settlers have been blamed for crime on the fringes of the city and forcefully evicted by police and city authorities.
In 2009, the murder of prominent Port Moresby businessman, Sir George Constantinou, near the Tete settlement down the road from Baruni, prompted another such eviction.
Some settlers from Tete were arrested for the Constantinou murder and Tete was subsequently flattened. Like nearly every other settlement in Port Moresby, demolished after serious crime, the squatters were evicted, but the settlers returned and rebuilt their homes.
Since 2020, more than 20,000 people have been evicted from various settlements.
According to the Post-Courier, there have been seven major evictions. Six were ordered by the courts, and one was conducted by police following an increase in criminal activities.
In July 2024, police began the biggest planned eviction so far at the Bush Wara settlement at 9 mile in Port Moresby.
This happened after the courts recognised the rights of the title holder, the Nambawan Superannuation Limited, after a decade-long court battle.
Up to 5000 squatters were removed, prompting renewed calls for the government to consider long-term resettlement solutions.
Bigger underlying problems
Discussing settlements, crime and landownership means diving headfirst into a complex rabbit hole of legacy colonial decisions, unimplemented policies, mountains of academic research, and frustrating government indecisiveness over five decades.
In the 1960s, the colonial government developed planned settlements for migrant workers from other provinces with the understanding that they would eventually depart for their villages after a given period. But the relative ease of urban life at the time meant many of them stayed in the towns and cities.
When Papua New Guinea gained independence from Australia, it inherited settlements that quickly expanded beyond their allocated boundaries as more people moved from their villages.
The National Research Institute (NRI) points out that successive post-independence reforms shifted the responsibility for settlements from the Department of Housing and the National Housing Commission to what is now the National Capital District Commission (NCDC) without the financial resources needed.
Expensive housing
By the late 1980s, there was a noticeable decline in the quality of life in Port Moresby's planned settlements.
New unplanned settlements had sprouted on the peripheries of Port Moresby as people tried to solve the city's housing shortage themselves.
Current estimates from the NRI indicate that at least half of the city's residents reside in both planned and unplanned settlements.
With unaffordable rental prices, many who are employed have opted to purchase land from customary landowners and build their own homes. While there have been government policy decisions to make home loans affordable, those efforts have largely been out of reach for low-income earners who are unable to meet bank requirements.
An even bigger majority of city residents who are unemployed live in settlements like Baruni, Tete, and Bush Wara, where crime is rife.
Solutions needed
This week, Port Moresby suburban residents who have had to put up with the crime are angry.
Many support the eviction at Baruni. Many more are supporting renewed calls for the death penalty as police work to arrest the suspects.
But a real long-term solution for Port Moresby's settlement and crime problems needs aconsistent strategy backed by political will.
The NRI says the government needs to realise that they're building towns and cities where many Papua New Guineans are priced out of the housing market and that current policies continue to mirror the colonial housing legacy.
