Pari shocked by lands chief’s breach of faith

BY ALFRED PAGEPITU

PARI development company says it is shocked by Lands Commissioner’s move to publish a notice in media over land parcels which they were discussing in ‘good faith’.

Commissioner Allan McNeil published a forfeiture notice on Solomon Star last Friday relating to different parcels of land on Noro Western province.

In the notice, the Commissioner of Land re-entered and took possession of FTE owned by Pari Development Company Ltd in relation to parcels 098-009-052, 098-009-054, 098-011-145, 098-012-545, 098-016-001, 098-011-0169 and 098-009-065 in Noro.

The notice states that in effect, the company no longer owns FTE over any remainder parcels in Noro.

McNeil said any money paid to the company for land in Noro is a matter between the Company and any people paying such money to the company, and is not recognised by the Commissioner of Lands.

He said members of public are strongly advised not to make any further payments to Pari Development Company Ltd for land in Noro as the company no longer owns this land.

However, PARI Director Donald Bato said an agreement was reached with McNeil to deal with these parcels of land through an email conversation on April 26, 2021.

Bato is surprised why McNeil agreed to their discussions but then took to the media with the notice.

Island Sun cited the email conversation between McNeil and Pari’s Bato regarding the parcels on the notice.

In the email they agreed that:

1. 098-009-052 – COL will retain this land; PDCL will drop its demand for this parcel;
2. 098-009-054 – COL will drop the forfeiture of this Fixed Term Estate and give PDCL an additional 18 months to develop the land;
3. 098-011-145 – COL will drop the forfeiture of this FTE in exchange for PDCL committing to a subdivision to divide this parcel into equal halves with the boundary line to be mutually agreed by both parties, and PDCL surrendering the agreed upon half to the COL. COL to give PDCL an additional 18 months to develop the land, by which time the subdivision should have been registered and half the land surrendered to COL.
4. 098-012-545 – PDCL will create a subdivision of this parcel to create a new parcel alone the southern boundary, including all the land west of the new logging road adjacent to the small Baru subdivision, and will surrender this parcel to the COL within 18 months. COL will drop the forfeiture of this FTE and give PDCL an additional 36 months to develop the land.
5. 098-011-169 – COL will drop the forfeiture of this FTE and give PDCL an additional 36 months to develop the land. PDCL will apply for subdivision and COL will consent to this subdivision to create a 5-hectare parcel near the Noro-Munda road specifically for waste dump site, and PDCL will surrender this parcel to COL within 18 months.
6. 098-009-065 – COL will drop the forfeiture of this FTE and give PDCL an additional 36 months to develop the land. In addition, PDCL will build and complete a road alone and inside the north- western boundary of this parcel. COL will consent to the subdivision of this parcel and allow resulting parcels to be transferred, in exchange for PDCL surrendering the road parcel free of charge to SIG.