House sold illegally to businesswoman

THE National Housing Corporation (NHC) is alleged to have sold a PNG Defence Force (PNGDF) property located at 12th Street, Top Town, Lae illegally to a Chinese businesswoman.
According to documents The National obtained, NHC sold the property to a woman named Lin Mei of FTM Holdings Ltd on April 17, 2015. Former NHC acting managing director John Dege and acting principal legal officer Gabriel Gore signed the contract for sale at a cost of K350,000 under NHC’s cash sales scheme.
The possession date was on Nov 18, 2016.
The property in question is located at Section 03, Lot 60 along with six other properties – Section 03, Lot 80; Section 22, Lot 8; Section 22, Lot 9; Section 32, Lot 60; Section 32, Lot 80 and Section 32, Lot 81.
Documents state that NHC issued the properties to the Defence Ministry under a Certificate of Occupancy (CAO).
However, the Lands Department set aside the CAO in 2014 after the then PNGDF Minister Fabian Pok wrote a letter of release of CAO on Jan 20, 2017 to the then secretary Luther Sipison after a formal request from NHC to recover the properties.
The NHC allocated the properties to the Defence Ministry on a one-on-one basis to be used as institutional houses and full rental paid by the PNGDF or the occupant to NHC fortnightly.
Pok said that National Executive Council’s (NEC) decision of 1987 and 1988 vested all rights of properties not within the vicinity of the institution area to be managed by NHC.