Attorney General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum stressed that the Qarase led cabinet did not follow the Native Land Trust Act when it approved the transfer exchange of 68.7 hectares of itaukei land to freehold land for the Momi Bay Resort development.
Sayed-Khaiyum said the transfer should not have been done and he also points out a High Court ruling by Justice John Byrne where the concerns of the Momi itaukei landowners were noted.
He said the former Prime Minister, Laisenia Qarase should stop criticizing the current government's legal team and look at the facts in the Momi land transfer case.
Qarase is calling on the government to take an independent legal opinion on his cabinet's decision to transfer the itaukei land to freehold land for the Momi Bay Resort development.
Qarase said according to his understanding, they were allowed to do that in July 2006.
Qarase said there was nothing sinister when they transferred the land and there was no real loss in the land area for the itaukei landowners.
He said the landowners also got a lot of benefits and it was a voluntary agreement between the landowners and the developers of Momi at the time.
Section 5 (1) of the Native Land Trust Act states that Native land shall not be alienated whether by sale, grant, transfer or exchange except to the Crown.
Meanwhile Sayed-Khaiyum said they are now assessing other cases where itaukei land has been transferred to freehold land.
He also said Qarase's comments that the SVT government had done this for other lots of itaukei land does not make things right.
Story by: Vijay Narayan
Qarase govt did not follow Native Land Trust Act-AG
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