Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Manus Island government prepared to take landowners to court over asylum camp

Posted at 07:12 on 21 September, 2012 UTC

The provincial government of Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island is prepared to take landowners to court over their opposition to the re-establishment of a detention centre for asylum seekers.

People seeking refugee status in Australia are again to be detained on Manus Island and on Nauru under Canberra’s re-activated policy to deal with them offshore.

Landowners on the periphery of the Manus facility at Lombrum are threatening litigation if their demands for 45 million dollars in compensation are not met.

But the provincial governor’s executive officer Wilson Kuve says they’re not the only ones who can take court action.

“There are areas that we can also take them on. For instance, we could ask the court for a court order to restrain them from not interfering in what has been mutually accepted.”

Wilson Kuve says at the moment the landowners are not an issue at all.