There is much to be learned from our experience and we sincerely hope it can be leveraged.

PNG has countless informal settlements that stand in the way of urbanisation, and forced evictions are commonplace. PHDC values human rights and our efforts throughout this entire process, spanning more than ten years, are testament to this. Our landmark efforts to humanely resettle the illegal squatter settlement are the first of its kind in PNG.

We sincerely hope our experience can be leveraged. For example, there is no process for converting customary land to state leasehold, which is what led to us utilising Land Use Agreements to confer ownership to resettled families. Also, communities like the relocated settlers at Tagua remain formally unrecognised by government frameworks and regulations. Similarly, there is much to be learned from the current state of the relocation site; despite being handed over in October 2014 to UN acclaim, we believe that many of the former settlers have failed to meaningfully move on with their lives, or at least have failed to build on their donated land. We believe this has something to do with frequent calls to action for compensation, with the former settlers being led to believe an imminent windfall is in order.

PHDC has extended offers to collaborate with Amnesty International, United Nations and FHI360 to overcome urbanisation challenges and learn from our experience, but none have taken up the offer.