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PAPUA
NEW GUINEA RAINFOREST CAMPAIGN NEWS
Land
Racket Exposed
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Forest
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11/25/99
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Title: Land racket exposed ... East Awin leases
latest case
Source: The Independent,
http://www.niugini.com/independent/
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for
permission to reprint
Date: November 25, 1999
Byline: JOE KANEKANE
A
FORGERY and faking syndicate believed to be responsible for the
awarding
of bogus lands titles and leases has been revealed at the
lands
department and there are fears that many companies may have
their
titles and leases revoked as a result of this.
The
discovery has sent a lot of government departments and corporate
entities
into a frenzy as the conduct of the activity was done
meticulously
and are difficult to verify if it was done by a master
forger.
Already
the prime minister's department and some government
departments
have stepped up surveillance around their offices there
is no
guarantee that the group has yet to acquire letter heads and
signatures
of departmental heads. Information
obtained by The
Independent asserts that the forgers have a printing
machine capable
of
duplicating exact replicas of original letters heads and
signatories
of departmental heads.
Both
the Lands Minister Dr Fabian Pok and his department secretary
Morris
Alaluku have been made aware of the revelation and have
instituted
an internal audit which has highlighted that there were
strong
possibilities of lands officers being part of the act.
The
discovery was the result of a complaint by landowners of the East
Awin
Timber project area to the lands department over their dismay of
the
approval of five special agricultural leases.
The
landowners had protested after learning that the land was awarded
to a
known developer amidst their opposition and demanded to know the
criteria
used in the process.
Lands
department officials were surprised because there was an
existing
Forest Management Agreement between the landowners and the
state
and a deal to seal that was signed in 1996.
It was
unusual for lands officers to ignore existing arrangements and
award
titles as there are clauses in such agreements that heeded the
position
of the landowners, especially their consent.
Further
investigations carried out by The Independent has established
that
there was also lack of vital information necessary for the
proper
and correct approval of the five leases. These were:
* Lack
of landowners consent to the granting of the five said leases;
* The
absence of the signing of the Native Land Deed; and
* The
absence of an investigation report by the Provincial Affairs
department.
Pertaining
to these information were defects on the leases when wrong
folio
and volume numbers were given to the five leases. The folio and
volume
numbers were for land in the Northern region whereas the land
for the
five leases was located in the Southern region.
There
was also no proper consultation process between the two
government
agencies to cross check if the land in question had a
Timber
Authority as in this case.
Dr Pok
had subsequently advised Mr Alaluku to cancel the titles
awarded
to the developer.
"You
are directed to issue instructions to the Registrar of Titles to
have
the de-registration of these five tiles cancelled within the
next
couple of days so that the landowners and the Forest Services
can go
into agreement with GL Niugini Ltd to develop the forest
project,"
he wrote.
Attorney
General Michael Gene then wrote to the Mr Alaluku
propagating
that there were clear instances of alleged criminal fraud
and it
would require further investigation to ascertain how the
titles
were awarded without adherence to prescribed guidelines.
In his
letter of October 18, 1999 Mr Gene stated that he would
strongly
recommend that criminal proceedings be pursued and those
implicated
be brought to justice.
"As
the attorney general I am satisfied that there is a case of fraud
and
wish to inform that the appropriate application will be made to
the
court to discharge the interim injunction currently in place.
There
is indeed a case of criminal fraud as to how the titles to the
five
special agricultural leases were issued in respect of the area
of land
forming the East Awin FMA," wrote Mr Gene.
Other
documents obtained by The Independent confirm that the Lands
department
did issue on June 10, 1999 five state titles under section
102 of
the Land Act 1996 to East Awin Rubber
Estate Limited for a
period
of 99 years.
Mr
Alaluku wrote to the attorney general on October 12 admitting that
the
department was grossly misled into signing the lease agreements.
"It
was found that the department has been misled and misinformed
into
granting the titles. We believe the titles were prepared outside
the
department and brought in to be signed," wrote Mr Alaluku.
He also
advised Mr Gene that the five areas refered to as Portions
5c,
6c,7c and 8c and 9c F/M Murray in the Western province are now
restored
to their original state and Forest Services and the
landowners
can now negotiate an agreement with GL Niugini to develop
the
said forest project.
"A
thorough investigation is being carried out to determine who or
which
officers were involved in this and disciplinary action to be
taken
upon them. The report of our findings will also be referred to
the
police fraud squad to further investigate for criminal charges,"
said Mr
Alaluku.
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