Fa’alapotopotoga o Eleele Tumaoti a Samoa | |
Agency overview | |
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Formed | 1990 |
Minister responsible |
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Agency executive |
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The Samoa Land Corporation is a government-owned company based in Samoa. The corporation was established in 1990 to divest 24,000 acres (9,700 ha) of land previously owned by the Western Samoa Trust Estates Corporation on a commercial basis to generate revenue for the government. [2] The corporation is structured as a company under the Companies Act 1955. [2]
The corporation's work has been controversial. Some of the land owned by the corporation was taken during the colonial era and is claimed as customary land by village councils. [3] In 1997 villagers in Vaiusu fired on police in a dispute over alienation of customary land by the corporation. [4] In 2012 the village of Satapuala petitioned for the return of its land, arguing that it had been stolen by the German and then New Zealand administrations. [5]
In 2013 a parliamentary committee found that the corporation had engaged in overspending and "corrupt practices" to disguise payments to a local businessman, [6] and recommended legal action against those responsible. [7] In 2014 a parliamentary committee found that the Samoan government should not have transferred 18,500 acres (7,500 ha) of land to the corporation. [8] In 2019 the Auditor-General found that a debt of $15.9 million owed by the government to the corporation over a land exchange had not been followed up on by the corporation and that lease arrears had not been pursued. [9]
In 2014 the corporation moved out of its headquarters at Tuanaimato. The building failed to find a tenant and sat empty for three years, [10] and in 2017 the corporation moved back in. [11]
Fa’alapotopotoga o Eleele Tumaoti a Samoa | |
Agency overview | |
---|---|
Formed | 1990 |
Minister responsible |
|
Agency executive |
|
The Samoa Land Corporation is a government-owned company based in Samoa. The corporation was established in 1990 to divest 24,000 acres (9,700 ha) of land previously owned by the Western Samoa Trust Estates Corporation on a commercial basis to generate revenue for the government. [2] The corporation is structured as a company under the Companies Act 1955. [2]
The corporation's work has been controversial. Some of the land owned by the corporation was taken during the colonial era and is claimed as customary land by village councils. [3] In 1997 villagers in Vaiusu fired on police in a dispute over alienation of customary land by the corporation. [4] In 2012 the village of Satapuala petitioned for the return of its land, arguing that it had been stolen by the German and then New Zealand administrations. [5]
In 2013 a parliamentary committee found that the corporation had engaged in overspending and "corrupt practices" to disguise payments to a local businessman, [6] and recommended legal action against those responsible. [7] In 2014 a parliamentary committee found that the Samoan government should not have transferred 18,500 acres (7,500 ha) of land to the corporation. [8] In 2019 the Auditor-General found that a debt of $15.9 million owed by the government to the corporation over a land exchange had not been followed up on by the corporation and that lease arrears had not been pursued. [9]
In 2014 the corporation moved out of its headquarters at Tuanaimato. The building failed to find a tenant and sat empty for three years, [10] and in 2017 the corporation moved back in. [11]