Land court battle between two businessmen ends

A court battle over a piece of land in Lae between two businessmen that lasted for nine years has ended in the National Court in Waigani in Port Moresby.
The dispute was between Lae businessmen George Ipi, owner of stationery store PNG Toner and Ink Supplies Limited (PNGTIS) – the plaintiff – and Jim Tapako, a trucking operator.
At the centre of the dispute is the piece of land at allotment 27 section 02, which originally belonged to National Housing Corporation and was designated residential.
It was alleged that in 2001, Tapako paid K50,000 for the land as a leasehold from NHC but failed to pay a six years rental lease.
In 2005, NHC repossessed the land and put it on tender, but it was alleged that Tapako was not aware of the land being reprocessed.
Ipi won the tender in 2005, took over the lease and started constructing a three-storey building on the site for his business.
Tapako approached Ipi, saying he still had the title to the land and told Ipi to stop work on his building.
On July 4, 2007, Tapako issued judicial proceedings against PNGTIS Limited and various state entities.
The National Court dismissed the case for the want of prosecution. Tapako, appealed that decision in the Supreme Court but the appeal was also dismissed for the same reason.
Despite the ruling, the court ordered the registrar of titles to cancel PNGTIS Limited’s ownership of the land and transfer the title to Tapako.
Ipi appealed and sought a review of the ruling, which the court granted on May 16 last year.
On Friday, Judge Terence Higgins ruled in favour of PNGTIS Limited and Ipi, saying they had the legal title to the land and that the decision to cancel it was a mistake derived from an error.