A NEW dispute is brewing at April Hill, where victims of last year’s flash flood in Honiara recently settled.
It followed the arrival of new settlers, who claimed they were sent in there by Central Honiara MP Moffat Fugui.
But a spokesman for the April Hill community, Daniel Kisi, claimed these new arrivals were not flood victims.
“They moved into the community recently and claimed they were voters of Mr Fugui,” Mr Kisi said.
“These new arrivals claimed they were advised by Mr Fugui to move in there,” he added.
Mr Kisi said the arrival of these new people had caused tension within the April Hill community.
“We know who is a flood victim and who is not. April Ridge has been allocated by the government to flood victims only.
“None of these new arrivals is a flood victim. We know they used to live on the hillsides of Koa Hill.
“They have not lost their homes during the floods.
“In our view, they should not move into April Hill because this site is allocated specifically for flood victims,” Mr Kisi said.
He urged Central Honiara MP Mr Fugui to go to April Hill and clarify to the community whether it was him who advised these people to move in there.
Mr Kisi said there are other flood victims who are yet to move into April Hill.
“At the moment, there are 90 families with a population of about 300 people occupying April Hill.
“These are families who have their names with the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) as true victims of the flood.
“Other families who also lost homes and properties during the flood are yet to move in.
“So for these people to just move in and take up plots earmarked for the affected families is not right.
“It is causing tension and hatred between us the real victims and them.
“Before it leads to direct confrontation, I would like to ask the MP for Central Honiara to visit us and clarify the situation.
“The last thing we want is for April Hill to be used by politicians for their personal gain,” Mr Kisi said.
In previous weeks, the community also experienced tensions after eight men went there and claimed plots of land as payment for their work with the Ministry of Land when doing survey and plotting.
But the ministry later clarified they have not promised these eight men land on April Hill.
