Registrar of Titles bites the bullet over land dealings
JOSEPH ALEVE MALANGA – the man who stood his ground in a stand-off with the Commissioner of Lands, Alan McNeil over the transfer of Fixed Term Estate (FTE) – has been suspended as the Registrar of Titles.
Mr. Malanga confirmed his suspension, Friday.
“Yes, I have been suspended on half-pay effective from 14th December. I am on my annual leave now so I do not wish to say anything now. But I have issues that I would wish to raise so that the public gets the full story. That can wait until I am back from leave,” he said.
“For now I can say this. It would appear the fuss that the Commissioner of Lands had kicked up in recent weeks was instigated by the Office of the Prime Minister. The Office of the Prime Minister wants someone from Choiseul to be the Registrar of Titles.
“I have seen some correspondence on this. Unfortunately, I am unable to give you a copy because I am not allowed in my office as part of the suspension,” Mr. Malanga told Solomon Star yesterday.
“I hope we do not get to see every department is headed by a Choiseulese. It seems that’s the direction we’re headed,” he said.
There were indications last night Mr. Malanga may not return as Registrar of Titles.
The stand-off between the Offices of the Commissioner of Lands and the Registrar of Titles was triggered by claims of fraudulent land dealings in Honiara.
Lands Commissioner McNeil claimed he had uncovered two cases involving the fraudulent transfer of FTE titles. In one case, he said his signature was forged. AJ Hardware Ltd and Good Guest Ltd – two unsuspecting developers caught in the alleged fraudulent land dealings – have since surrendered their titles back to the Commissioner of Lands.
Commissioner McNeil has since refused to sign any transfers unless staff of the Office of the Registrar of Titles signs a declaration to abide by his Directions.
Meanwhile, a further case of irregular land dealings has been uncovered in Honiara.
In the new case, it was discovered that, although the Good Guest Limited forged grant was registered on 25th September 2020, an earlier fixed term estate in the name of Leong Gin & Company Limited was still registered over exactly the same parcel as recently as 11th December 2020, according to the Commissioner of Lands.
“Both fixed-term estates were registered simultaneously over the same land, and both fixed-term estates appear on the Perpetual Estate register. This is highly irregular, as only one fixed-term estate should exist at any one time over a specific area. The Registrar of Titles office clearly has some explaining to do,” Commissioner McNeil said this week.
“Leong Gin had failed to develop the land in accordance with their fixed-term estate conditions and so my predecessor took steps to forfeit the estate. Every step appears to have been done correctly up to a request in early 2018 to the Registrar of Titles to cancel the FTE.
“It wasn’t canceled though. The questions then are how can the Registrar of Titles register a new FTE knowing there is already a registered FTE over the same land, and why didn’t the Registrar of Titles act on the previous Commissioner’s request to cancel the older FTE?
By Alfred Sasako
Honiara Newsroom
