Lands looking for missing files

By HELEN TARAWA
MORE than 60 land files for Special Agriculture Business Leases (SABL) are missing from the Department of Lands and Physical Planning, according to the findings of the SABL committee.
Lands Minister Justin Tkatchenko has issued a directive to acting Secretary Oswald Tolopo and appropriate officers to go through every file of the department to track down the SABL files.
“We will be turning this place upside down and all files, no matter where they are located, will be replaced and put down into appropriate areas, which is the records and achieves division,” TKatchenko.
“We currently have only 40 land files in our possession in the whole of this Lands Department, that means 60-plus land files are missing – nowhere to be found.
“That clearly shows the issues that the SABL committee is going through, because if they have no files to evaluate, how can they do their job?
“This is a major concern to me because where are these 60-plus files, have they been destroyed, are they under somebody’s desk?
“Are they being hidden from us purposely for their own selfish greed, which is totally unacceptable?”
After getting a full brief from the acting secretary and the chairman, I have given a ministerial directive to Secretary Tolopa to go through every single file and desk of this department, double check everybody’s desk, filing cabinet and areas where these files might be hidden or misplaced so we can be rest assured that we have done our best to track down the missing SABL files.
“Who knows what else we can find?
“We may be able to find some of the missing land files from some of those cases we have been looking for.
“All files will be replaced and put at the appropriate area which is the records and achives division where all the land files and land titles belong.
“This is not good enough because here we are with our landowners and people suffering because of this SABL issues over many years and the committee is handicapped because of this missing documentation and files.”