Jonathan Mangope Paraia v Inspector Jacob Yansuan, as Police Station Commander (Porgera), Chief Superintendent Fred Sheekiot as Provincial Police Commander, Police Commissioner and The Independent State of Papua New Guinea (1995) N1343

• Jurisdiction: Papua New Guinea
• Court: National Court
• Citation: (1995) N1343
• Date: 29 June 1995
• Year: 1995

Full Title: Jonathan Mangope Paraia v Inspector Jacob Yansuan, as Police Station Commander (Porgera), Chief Superintendent Fred Sheekiot as Provincial Police Commander, Police Commissioner and The Independent State of Papua New Guinea (1995) N1343

National Court: Injia J

Judgment Delivered: 29 June 1995

1 Damages—duty of plaintiff to prove damage—burning of house during police raid in village—evidence of value of house vague, inconsistent—duty of court to determine probable value

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Injia J: This is a trial on assessment of damages following default judgment. The action arises out of a police raid on Paiam village, Pogera, Enga Province on 29 June 1993 following the fatal shooting of a policemen by warring clansmen. A combined police operation of policemen from various parts of Enga resulted in widespread destruction of property, looting and the fatal shooting of one man. The plaintiff in this case is the President of the Pogera Local Government Council and a businessman in the Pogera District. There is no dispute that his semi permanent house situated at Paiam village was burnt down in the raid. The plaintiff's claim is for damages for the loss of the house and its contents as well as exemplary damages and interest. The trial on assessment of damages is contested by the defendants. The main dispute is as to the value of the L40 type house. I will deal with the value of the house first.

L40 TYPE SEMI–PERMANENT HOUSE

The plaintiff's case is that the house was valued at K40,000.00 inclusive of labour and transportation cost. The house was built in 1992. The plaintiff gave evidence first. He said he had legal title over the land on which the building was situated. The plaintiff in his oral evidence and in his affidavit makes a "conservative" estimate of K40,000.00 of which K6,700.00 was for the cost of labour. As to the cost of the materials, he left it to the carpenter who built the house to give evidence of.

The second witness was the carpenter, Mr James Lero from Southern Highlands Province. His evidence consists of an affidavit on which he was cross–examined by the defendant's counsel. He is a carpenter with 2 years experience. He had obtained a Vocational School Certificate in 1988 specialising in carpentry. He had worked with various construction companies prior to building this house. At the time he built the house, he was employed by Enga Builders. He used his own tools except for an electric saw, electric plane and dumpy level which were supplied by the plaintiff. The building took 2½ months to complete. He engaged 5 other employees whom he supervised. His labour charge was K2.00/hour and the labourers rate was K1.00 per hour. The house he built was a L40 type four bedroom house. However, there is no evidence he used a house plan. Total cost of the house was K40,000.00 which excludes security fees and cost of fencing the property. Of, the K40,000.00, K5,000.00 was for labour costs, K3,500.00 for transportation cost, K3,500.00 for site preparation and equipment hire and drainage fees. The...