KCH, depts to deal with Manumanu land issue

By HELEN TARAWA
PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill says relevant departments including Lands, Defence and Kumul Consolidated Holdings (KCH) will action shortcomings in the administrative inquiry and approval processes of the controversial Manumanu land deal.
O’Neill said it was now the responsibility of relevant government agencies and departments to address the deficiencies in the process.
According to a report tabled in Parliament on April 13 last year, one of the main issues with the land deal was that the value of the land on acquisition was grossly exaggerated.
Recent valuation of the land concerned — portion 406 — puts it at amounts far below the K46.6 million that it was valued at and the eventual K78.4 million that was paid in total during the deal.
The much-anticipated findings from the K2 million Manumanu administrative inquiry have yet to be released to the public after being tabled four months ago in Parliament.
The report indicated that no feasibility studies were carried out prior to acquisition and that there was no evidence to suggest that the Defence Council approved of the endeavour in the first place.
This automatically rendered the deal unlawful as the original story behind the acquisition was that the land was being acquired through a memorandum of agreement with the Defence Force so the armed forces could establish a new base.
According to the report put together by Queen’s Council John Griffin, State entities – Motor Vehicle Insurance Ltd, the State Solicitors Office and the Land Titles Commission – were found to be without fault and thus cleared of any subjection to the investigation.
The Lands Department, Kumul Consolidated Holdings and the Central Supply and Tenders Board on the other hand were found to have had unethical conduct and corrupt practices during the Manumanu land acquisition.
Police investigations into the payment of K46.6 million for a portion of land outside Port Moresby has been dropped with the two cabinet ministers implicated, William Duma and Dr Fabian Pok, cleared of allegations against them, as per the recommendation of the National Fraud and Anti-Corruption Directorate.