TENEMENT area currently being mined by World Link Resources on Rennell is a provincial land leased out on suspicious dealings.
Ministry of Lands and Housing Surveyor General, Jimmy Ikina told the Solomon Star that the particular land area concerned was formerly owned by the provincial government of Rennell and Bellona.
“We understand there are certain blocks of the land titles which have been registered under the provincial government back then,” he said
Mr Ikina said his Ministry is not aware of how the transfer of the land titles from the provincial government to the landowners as claimed had come about.
The Surveyor General said as such the Ministry is not aware of any land acquisition which led to the transfer of the land titles.
He said if such land acquisition was done privately, then rightly the records of the land title holders should have been registered with the Ministry of Lands and Surveys but this has not been the case.
He said the Ministry is aware of the existing land boundaries acquired in the past which belongs to the Rennell Bellona provincial government.
He said it can only be assumed that previous executive provincial governments have either sold or leased the provincial government owned land without notifying the Ministry of Lands about the changes.
Despite the denial, a number of land owners claimed that land acquisition of the land in question was made and the land titles were registered under their tribal groups’ trustees.
World Link Resources operates on a tenement next to rival mining company, Asia Pacific Investment Development (APID) on West Rennell.
World Link recently got its export permit granted whilst APID is under high court order to halt all operations.
By BRADFORD THEONOMI
