Strange Stories Of Land Dealing

And Wheeling In Western Samoa

From an Apia correspondent

Some rather strange procedures in dealing with land leases in several parts of Western Samoa were re vealed during a Commission of In quiry into the affairs of the country’s Lands and Survey Department and the Land Board.

One example was an admission by a departmental head that he was un aware there was a right of appeal against unfavourable decisions on lease applications. Thus unsuccessful applicants were not advised of their rights. If they appealed now and were successful, the government :ould be up for hundreds of thou sands of dollars in compensation from those who were granted leases and had built.

Then there was the failure of Pola taivao Fosi, former Minister of Lands and Survey, and chairman of the Land Board, to appear before the inquiry, in spite of several invitations.

Mr Fosi decided he would explain matters in Parliament, claiming he could not attend the inquiry be muse he was chairman of the Bills Committee of the Legislative Assem ?ly. The committee was sitting at the >ame time as the inquiry, and it was imperative that he be at the com mittee meeting.

He was given another time-slot at he inquiry, which was headed by Mr fustice Donne. Again he pleaded he iad to attend a Bills Committee meeting. A sceptical Mr Peter jraham, counsel assisting the com mission, said a quorum of the com mittee was half its members, and in absence of the chairman and vice chairman, the committee had power o elect a protem chairman.

Mr Justice Donne remarked that Mr Fosi had been grossly dis courteous, and in the result it could ?e he was manifestly foolish.

Mr Graham in his final address asked Mr Justice Donne to set out n detail allegations against Mr Fosi, >o that when Mr Fosi stood up in the Fono he knew exactly what he was answering for.

Those questions were: • How did he become a success ful applicant for land that was not advertised? • Why should be pay less rent ;han others? • Why was his rent payment post

poned while others were not post poned? • Was the land ever cultivated?

The Director of Lands and Survey, Mr Patu Saena Afa Hunter, in reply to a series of questions by Mr Graham, said he did not know till the previous morning that an un successful applicant for advertised government land for lease had a right of appeal against an unfavour able Land Board decision.

Mr Graham said the law gave an unsuccessful applicant 28 days to lodge an appeal. The department

failed to notify unsuccessful appli cants of that right. Now the govern ment might have to pay substantial compensation should successful appli cants have to be removed from the land given to them and on which they had built expensive houses, if unsuccessful applicants appealed their cases and won.

Mr Graham said that because of the department’s failure to comply with the law, the deeds of sale and leases held by people living in the sub-divisions concerned were not worth the paper they were written on.