BY SYLVANA TEKUMAHA
COMMISSIONER of Lands (CoL) Alan McNeil has firmly rejected allegations circulated in the media relating to the 2023 variation of the lease over the Kongulai Water Treatment Plant land parcel.
Speaking during a media conference on Friday December 12, 2025, Mr McNeil outlined what he called misinformation and “baseless” claims made against him.
McNeil was suspended on November 13, 2025 over allegations including:
Fraudulent execution of the lease variation (RT Form 10) and the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on November 26, 2023, allegedly knowing some parties involved had already passed away in relation to parcel 191-064-1 (Kongulai Water Source).
Breach of a High Court Order (Civil Case No. 463 of 2009).
Misrepresenting a “good will” payment by former Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare as a final payment under the disputed 2023 lease agreement.
However, the suspension was revoked and set aside on November 28, 2025.
McNeil told local media that none of the alleged deceased individuals signed any documents, explaining that the old trustees appeared on the lease only because the RT Form 10 requires referencing the original 1983 lease, whose signatories have since passed away.
He said the 2023 landowners did sign the variation and the MOU, and evidence including the agreement, a group photo taken in the Cabinet room, and a news article published through the Government Portal clearly confirms this.
“There is proof that the MOA was signed on November 28, 2023 in the Cabinet room at OPMC. The evidence is there. So any landowner who claims he was not present their signatures and photographs are clear,” McNeil said.
He listed the 2023 trustees who signed as LESSOR:
Kasiano Lalau, Savino Laugana, Joseph Pali, Simon Mavi and Damako Roko.
McNeil signed on behalf of the government as LESSEE.
A lawyer representing the landowners witnessed the signing.
McNeil said that after he scanned and passed the documents to Deputy Lands Commissioner Maeli Lubasia, that was when the mistake occurred.
According to McNeil, the original landowners’ names were incorrectly hand-written onto the RT Form 10 by the Deputy Commissioner instead of the 2023 trustees who signed the MOA.
Mr Lubasia acknowledged the mistake when questioned by the media.
“The pressure I experienced during the 2023 Pacific Games was huge. I had to process the RT Form 10 quickly to ensure water was available during the Games, and I mistakenly wrote the original owners’ names,” Lubasia said.
McNeil said this error happened after the signing ceremony and was outside his control.
“I wasn’t aware of the error because it was already out of my hands by then,” he said.
McNeil insisted the mistake does not amount to fraud.
He said the administrative error occurred at a time when ensuring uninterrupted water supply during the 2023 Pacific Games was a national priority, and emphasised that: No one benefited, the error is fully correctable, and it does not meet the legal definition of fraud.
“No one benefited, nothing illegal occurred, and the mistake is fully correctable. Calling it fraud is stretching it far beyond reason,” he said.
