At every stage PHDC has acted in accordance with the law, and the legality of the 12^th May 2012 eviction has been upheld by multiple court decisions. Any suggestion to the contrary would be in contempt of these court decisions.

An eviction can only take place with valid court orders and be conducted by the Police. We had no direct involvement in the carrying out of any eviction, nor were we present. The events of 12^th May 2012 took us aback, and we were deeply saddened by the way in which the exercise eventuated – as we understand, the exercise was being conducted calmly up to the point Dame Carol Kidu arrived on site. Court issued-eviction orders were a last resort for us, and we continue to find it extremely disappointing that images of the eviction, together with our site’s high profile, have given opportunists a platform to misrepresent its context and intent. The images have been used to override anything positive achieved to that point and since, and yet it is something we had no control over. We went to significant expense to extensively consult and reach agreement with the squatter community; provide financial and logistical support; provide business and literacy training, as well as community leadership training and mentoring; acquired land which we prepared and implemented infrastructure and services on; enlisted the support of a seasoned United Nations professional, a community development expert, as well as highly respected former politician and humanitarian; effected innovative Land Use Agreements to donate individual parcels of land in what the United Nations in PNG altogether recognised as a significant and landmark achievement.