Misunderstanding with management of land

THERE is some misunderstanding about the management of the 3 per cent alienated State land in Papua New Guinea by the Lands Department.
The ownership of these alienated land remains with the State in perpetuity, which means there is time limit to ownership.
Even the 99-year leases revert back to the State if there is no renewal of leases.
There is also a specific parcel of State crown land allocated to State bodies to occupy without time limit under certificate authorising occupancy (CAO) as their base camp to deliver their mandated responsibilities.
The land, under CAO, is not a capital input as a factor of production for commercial purposes, but to host State assets such as schools, hospitals, police barracks and institutional houses for staff and so forth.
Land under CAO is exempted from all forms of lands fees.
Once CAO is converted into State leases under titles, this attracts land rate fees. Only proper authorised documentation may allow the disposal of State land under CAO to other commercial state leases to be owned by third parties. Most titled land converted from a CAO to private commercial leases is 100 per cent reversible if the entire process is executed fraudulently without the consent of the CAO holder State body.
Anyone who holds a title is a secondary issue and can be cancelled anytime by the Lands Department.
This should clarify that all the land grabbing under CAO is still a risky venture for unwary investors and lending institutions.
There was a recent case where about 30 hectares of land under CAO within the vicinity of Duran Farm was converted to a title and was about to be sold off to a foreigner for K30 million.
This was administratively intercepted and the title put in question and was recalled for automatic cancellation.

Observer,
NCD