A request was made to the Commissioner of Police yesterday to stop and seize development operations and bulldozing at the Kilikali Settlement in Nasinu when a one week eviction notice expires.

Also asked to intervene in the issue is the Military Council. The Nasinu Land Purchase and Housing Cooperative Limited (NLPHCL), owner’s of the land where the squatter community stands, is determined to demolish standing structures this week, which is expected to affect more than 100 families who are likely to become homeless with a bleak future. Two Fiji Labour Party executives, Dr Vijay Nair, who was the Laucala Open candidate and Maika Moroca, a former candidate as well and the current secretary of the Fijian Wing, responded to a call by the Kilikali residents and met with them.

The pair asked Commissioner Esala Teleni, military spokesman Colonel Mosese Tikoitoga and the Security Council to liaise with the NLPHCL to stop bulldozing the area because homes tend to collapse while human beings still occupy them.

They pleaded with Teleni to convince landowners to hold back development works for the sake of the poor people as negations were still underway.

At the meeting in Kilikali, Moroca said squatters wanted assurances from interim Minister for Housing and Squatter Resettlement Adi Laufitu Malani on better prospects in the pipeline regarding their proposed relocation. Only 65 families have been considered by the Housing Authority and were reserved lots while 67 families have to fend for themselves or seek assistance elsewhere. The squatters asked the Labour reps how much would each family get from the squatter resettlement allocation of the 2008 budget and who would be responsible for their transportation.

They also asked if they could buy lots proposed to be established in Nepani from the Housing Authority.

Moroca and Dr Nair have liaised with Adi Laufitu’s office for a meeting at Kilikali.
Moroca attacked the cooperative’s negligence on the squatter’s plight saying while laws and procedures were followed by the landowners, “the lives of innocent human beings, low-income earners, the citizens must be held up high”.

He added Adi Laufitu’s office was communicating with HA chief executive officer, Alipate Naiorosui on the issue.

“We will make sure the people of Kilikali are treated in a way that is wholesome and uplifting,” Moroca added.