OPPOSITION leader Dame Carol Kidu said she was assaulted by police while trying to intervene in an eviction of settlers at Paga Hill, National Capital District, on Saturday.

Dame Carol said she sustained a bruised upper arm. She said she had gone to the assistance of a settler who was being beaten up by officers engaged in the eviction exercise.

Notice of the eviction, following a court order on Feb 16 obtained by developers Paga Hill Development Company (PNG) Ltd, was issued to the settlers and hostel tenants last month.

The alleged assault occurred when police, acting on a district court directive, went to Portion 1597 at Paga Hill in downtown Port Moresby and started removing the settlers and tenants of a National Housing Corporation hostel.
Dame Carol, after receiving a phone call, arrived later and tried to intervene.

“As I was helping a fallen man, police turned on me.
“They grabbed me and threw me down and I injured my upper arm,” she said.

Dame Carol said she was fighting for the rights of the people and the way the police had treated their own citizens was really bad.

It is understood that Dame Carol did not file a formal police complaint over the incident.

Kamen Lawyers, acting for the settlers and hostel tenants, had failed in a bid last
Friday morning to stop the eviction.

However, they managed to get a stay in the National Court but arrived late to prevent the removal of about 20 houses.

The stay order is scheduled to  be heard at 1pm today.

Liria Lawyers, acting for the developer, yesterday said they were not served the stay order until police had moved into the area on Saturday to carry out the eviction.

“When officials from Kamen Lawyers arrived and served the stay order, police stopped what they were doing and left.
“By then, about 70% of the exercise had been carried out,” principal Stanley Liria said.

“The company has gone through an extensive consultative process with the illegal settlers and hostel tenants, advising them of previous court decisions over this piece of land and their implications.
“Besides giving them plenty of time to relocate, the developer had indicated assisting them to find an alternate site and to provide financial and logistical support.
“Many of the settlers have accepted the assistance offered by the developer and relocated.
“Those who insisted on remaining have breached the consent order and we had no option but to evict them.”