The National Court at Waigani has awarded over K4 Million damages in favour of Morata One Seventh-Day Adventist Church and 22 other Block Holders of Morata One against Sixth Estate Limited.The eviction was carried out at Morata One suburb in the National Capital District (NCD) between 12th and 14th of October 2022.
The SDA church and the other 22 Block Holders carried out their own investigations and it was established that the eviction conducted was illegal and improper. They then engaged a lawyer, Silas Kaule of Kaule Legal and filed court proceedings against the company and the State.
They claimed in the proceedings that the company and the Police had conducted an eviction on the settlers on a parcel of land owned by the company known as Portion 2733 Morata, but during the process of the eviction, encroached or trespassed onto a nearby land occupied by the SDA church and the other 22 Block Holders.
The nearby land occupied by the SDA church and the other 22 Block Holders was totally outside the boundary of Portion 2733.
It was alleged, amongst other things, that the company’s action was illegal in that it did not have title to the nearby land and furthermore, there was no court order authorizing the eviction to be carried out by the company on that part of the nearby land.
The National Court presided by Justice John Carey handed down the decision on April 17 2025 in favour of the Church and the other 22 Block Holders and awarded them damages of over K4 million, covering loss of Church buildings, Block Holders’ properties, breach of constitutional rights and costs.
Picture caption: Church members triumphant as Court favors them.
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