Stop corrupt deals with NHC

THE article “NHC, Dege broke Act, court rules” in last Wednesday’s The National speaks volumes about the current tenants of the National Housing Corporation (NHC) properties nationwide.
In Lae, some tenants were evicted and others threatened with evictions by non-eligible persons.
The National Court’s decision is a clear indication and a warning to illegal buyers of particularly NHC homes and properties currently occupied by legal tenants throughout the country.
In recent years, NHC, mostly through the office of the managing director, had often colluded with buyers through dubious deals in buying homes or properties which were occupied by legal tenants.
For the laymen out there, with NHC selling homes or its properties to non-eligible persons, who are not actually occupying tenants, it contravenes s37 and s38 of the NHC Act 1990.
Conditions of tenancy, through the tenancy agreements signed by current occupants are valid under those provisions, so why would the NHC be selling these properties without the tenants’ consent?
These non-eligible buyers have not signed any tenancy agreement, so why should they be allowed to buy these occupied homes?
NHC appears to be selling homes or properties to such persons without considerations for interest of the legal tenants.
The recent NHC evictions in Lae has somewhat revealed that some of the homes and properties being currently occupied by legal tenants had already been sold to private and corporate strangers, under irregular and suspicious dealings by the NHC.
Some of these private and corporate strangers have or are now taking court actions, attempting to legalise their illegally obtained titles to evict the legal tenants.
These strangers should be warned of any attempts to purchase homes and properties illegally. They have no legal basis in the manner in which they have acquired their titles to these homes and properties.
What is so special about these private individuals or companies that they were given priority over the legal occupying tenants, some of whom have been occupants for more than 37 years?
Under what circumstances is NHC giving precedence over the interests of the legal occupants?The NHC had miserably failed in its obligations to make advances to eligible persons and or approved applicants as dictated by the above mentioned provisions of the NHC Act 1990, to enable them to become owners of their current occupied homes.
The institutions embedded with the onus of providing opportunities for our citizens to own their homes with secured titles have continued to manoeuvre the system to the advantage of politicians and well-to-do bureaucrats, thereby creating unfairness in property ownership in the country.
I am uncertain as to whether the special parliamentary committee on public sector reforms has taken heed of, not only these Lae evictions, but in other parts of the country as well in their final considerations in addressing the endemic corruption by the NHC management.

Lorenitz Gaius,
Hospital Hill – Lae