Land issue

IT was reported in the media that customary landowners namely Dubara Idi Bana clan of Motu-Koitabu, asserted their ownership over land adjoining Air Transport Squadron, near Jackson’s airport.
The land is a State Lease, officially known as Portion 698 Milinch Granville, Formil Port Moresby.
It is currently being squatted upon by people, predominantly from Northern, with minority from other provinces.
Landowners are questioning Lands and Physical Planning and Defence departments, as to how this land had been acquired by the Defence.
This was reportedly at a cost of K15 million, however, title is yet to be given to Defence.
Landowners are claiming that this land, and other adjoining land, had never been legally acquired by the State or colonial administration.
Therefore, as far as they are concerned, it is still their customary land.
They are now calling for a commission-of-inquiry to investigate into sale of this property, as described above, before Lands and Physical Planning issues a replacement title for the alleged missing “title”.
This matter has been on the drawing board for some years now.
It seems that Lands and Physical Planning has continuously failed to provide any clear evidence of the colonial administration’s acquisition of the land in question.
Otherwise, if this information had already been provided to the clan, then this could amount to sheer ignorance on their part.
This information of clear evidence of land acquisition (including purchase documents, sketch maps, amount of payment details, list of landownership, clan leaders, etc,) once provided, will render their customary claims void and of no effect.
One would wonder if the leaseholder of Portion 698 Milinch Granville, and Formil Port Moresby, has had any due care at all to protect its legal interests from occupations by the squatters and or the contentious claims of ownership by this clan.
Why take the acquiescence stance?
State leases are granted over State-owned land in the country.
With that are minimum improvement covenants, that the successful leaseholder has to comply with in developing the property or land, within the given period – normally five years at the least.
The leaseholder of Portion 698 Milinch Granville, Formil Port Moresby, had totally failed to comply with the improvement covenants over its property, by neither developing it all, nor taking actions to remove the squatters when they first moved onto the property.
It therefore brings to question why Lands and Physical Planning would have allowed this speculative transaction between Defence and the leaseholder of Portion 698 Milinch Granville, Formil Port Moresby, to have fallen through.
Despite the improvements, covenants have not been complied with as one of the conditions of lease.

Lorenitz Gaius, Ketskets village