Super fund to fight land lease

SUPERANNUATION savings fund–the Nambawan Super Fund Limited was last Friday granted leave to appeal before the National Court against the decision of the Lands Minister to forfeit a State lease it owned for 99 years.
The leave was granted pursuant to section 142(2) of the Land Act 1996 for the plaintiff (Nambawan Super Fund Ltd) to lodge an appeal in the National Court within 14 days.
This would be against the decision of the Minister Sir Puka Temu dated Sept 14, 2009, and
published in the National Gazette No G173 last Sept 17, forfeiting State lease described as
volume 19, folio 62 over land known as allotment 5, section 429, Hohola, Port Moresby, in NCD.
Presiding National Court judge Justice Ere Kariko also ordered that pending the filing of the appeal, the Lands Department and its agents be restrained from taking any steps to deal with the State lease.
These orders were taken out by the Nambawan Super Fund Limited when it discovered that the Lands Department had decided to forfeit the lease it held since Nov 28, 1999, to its expiry date on Nov 27, 2095.
The plaintiff only “discovered” the forfeiture notice in the National Gazette by accident. They had not been served any such notice by the defendants, counsel for the plaintiff Gibson Geroro of Peter Allan Lowing Lawyers, submitted to court last Friday.
This bemused Justice Kariko, who asked: “Another mystery of the Lands Department?”