Despite not being legally required to do so, PHDC carried out the first privately funded and humane resettlement of an illegal squatter community in PNG, receiving United Nations praise for this landmark achievement.

The court-recognised Consent Order makes reference a package of assistance PHDC would provide to settlement households in order for them to relocate, but this was not the only assistance provided.

As part of PHDC’s efforts to negotiate a harmonious relocation in 2011, settlement leaders first requested funds to acquire a preferred site they had identified. Despite PHDC transferring funds, for whatever reason the monies did not result in the land being secured. Settlement representatives then informed PHDC that the settlement households would be happy to receive cash to fund their own relocation. Given the low success likelihood of this approach PHDC then set about finding a viable relocation site, settling on a similar sized parcel of customary land at the suburb of Six Mile. PHDC would then commission a master planning exercise for what the relocated community would eventually name ‘Tagua Village’, preparing the land for the erection of homes, as well as supplying the site with basic infrastructure and temporary shelter. PHDC then undertook a demographics survey to categorise the informal dwellings of each household, which would then determine the level of financial assistance provided, as per the terms of the Consent Order.

In the months leading up to the Consent Order’s agreed relocation due date, PHDC provided vehicles and approximately 20 staff at Paga Hill each day, assisting with the dismantling of informal dwellings and their relocation to Tagua. PHDC also provided financial assistance, literacy and business training, as well as community governance training and support at Tagua. This exercise was carried out with the help of an experienced community development consultant, a seasoned United Nations professional, as well as Dame Carol Kidu, a highly respected former politician and humanitarian. Each relocated household would also be the recipient of donated land at Tagua – in what is a transformative outcome, previously illegal squatters were now recognised landowners.

Despite a subset of the settlers challenging their requirement to relocate, delaying PHDC access to Paga Hill by a number of years, PHDC remained true to its initial offer of support and donated land.