TRNUC continues to hear land acquisition cases |04 July 2020
Mr Patrick Lablache
More complaints related to different land acquisition cases were heard by the Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission during its sessions yesterday.
Special advisor in the Ministry of Habitat, Infrastructure and Land Transport, Patrick Lablache appeared for the second time before the commission this week in the open session in relation to continued land acquisition issues.
Case 037: Allen Ernestine
In his evidence, Mr Ernestine had claimed that his property – H231 – on which he lived and operated a successful restaurant – the ‘Lobster Pot’ – at Pointe Conan, was unlawfully acquired by the state on February 2, 1987 through compulsory acquisition. He had also claimed that he had to accept insufficient compensation under extreme duress for the benefit of the person to whom he was leasing the property and where afterwards the person sold the property to government for a low value.
In answering the claim, Mr Lablache explained that the government at the time, had a policy on ‘Absentee Landlord’ and all restaurants were supposed to have been operated by their rightful owners. He said Mr Ernestine was in Australia at that time and he had rented the restaurant to a Leon Benoiton who wanted to buy it. He noted that it was on the policy of ‘Absentee Landlord’ that the property was acquired as he (Ernestine) was not in the country for a long period of time to operate his restaurant.
In providing further background, he stated that Mr Ernestine through his lawyer, Bernard Georges, had on April 25, 1987 put a claim of R425,000 as compensation for the property to which the government offered R220,000 as first offer further to an offer of R240,000 as last offer in July 1987. He said at the date of the acquisition, the property had a mortgage of R70,000 in favour of Barclays Bank and R102,354 as outstanding debt owed to the bank.
He further stated that R14,166.70 was also owed as tax to the tax division and it was the government which paid off the tax debt on September 20, 1990.
He said the government took a while to pay off the mortgage and the outstanding debt as it had to amend the law in 1990 to prevent accumulation of arrears on interests.
Mr Lablache added that following the change in Constitution in June 1993, government decided to review the acquisition as per schedule (7) part (3) of the Constitution amid continued negotiation with Mr Ernestine. He noted that though Mr Ernestine had on various occasions claimed for the return of his property which the government had already sold to Mrs Benoiton in October 1990 for R250,000 the government instead offered R500,000 as compensation, inclusive of the outstanding debt and mortgage.
Mr Lablache said government throughout the ongoing negotiations with Mr Ernestine raised the offer to R548,406 to cover the interests on the debt and mortgage though he (Ernestine) had pushed his compensation claimed to R1 million. He said it was in April 1994 that Mr Ernestine through his lawyer, Mr Georges, agreed on the sum of R548,406 as compensation offered by government.
Asked by the chairperson of the commission, Gabrielle McIntyre, why the government did not buy the property back from Mrs Benoiton, who later sold it to another person for R500,000 in 1993, without any improvements done on it. Mr Lablache replied that government was not aware of the sale as it was done privately.
Mr Lablache also noted that it was only after Mr Ernestine had been paid compensation that he claimed he did so under duress and that he was also reclaiming for the shortfall from the R1 million he had requested. He said government will seek legal advice as to whether there had been duress implication in the case as had claimed by Mr Ernestine who had already been paid compensation which he accepted.
Case 0344: Lucianne Beier
Lucianne Beier, on her part, had claimed before the commission that her land at Baie Saint Anne on Praslin – PR170 – consisting of 23,202 square metres, was unlawfully acquired, sub-divided and given to supporters of the party in power.
She said she was paid only R205,000 as compensation at the time of acquisition and that further in 1996, she was, under duress, given R600,000 as additional compensation.
She had alleged that two of the largest portions of land facing the road and the sea, were leased to the elected member of the National Assembly for Baie Ste Anne Churchill Gill as PR5446 and PR5443 was leased to two other persons of whom one was or is the district administrator for Baie Ste Anne.
She had also alleged that these persons have not complied with the lease agreement to pay rental while they wait for the price to increase and therefore the land should be returned to her as compensation for violation of her rights.
Mr Lablache acknowledged that the land was acquired on May 20, 1985. He said the case file did not contain the real reason as to why it was acquired but only a directive for the acquisition that was given by the then principal secretary of land, Georges Payet.
He noted that he learned that the property was acquired for agriculture purposes in the form of a state farm but was later used as land bank for housing development.
He highlighted that at the date of acquisition, the land was under mortgage for R15,000 by Barclays Bank with R18,326 as outstanding debt to the mortgage. He further pointed out that another German lady had a second line mortgage of R150,000 with R202,065.50 as outstanding debt. He said Mrs Beier claimed for R205,000 as compensation and was offered by government an ex-gratia offer of R20,000 on July 22, 1985 further to an increase of R30,000 following her demand for a R50,000 increment. He claimed that Mrs Beier accepted the R30,000 offer on October 24, 1985 and that she also authorised government to pay off Barclays Bank including a tax debt where after she ended up with R9,119.13 coming to her.
Mr Lablache said that Mrs Beier then on March 3, 1994, asked for a review in her land acquisition case under the constitution and also for the property to be returned to her at a reasonable price for which she will pay. He noted that government turned down her offer and it was then that she was offered and paid R600,000 net on February 22, 1996 with the debt and mortgage already paid by government.
In conclusion, he said he feels that government had already fulfilled its legal obligation under the constitution in regards to compensation paid to Mrs Beier in relation to the acquisition of her land. He further said that it will now be the duty of the government to re-look into the lease agreement of the individuals holding leases on the land to see that they implement their projects or if they have to return the land.
Case 0161: Madhav Rajaraman
Madhav Rajaraman had alleged that the late Rajaraman, his father, was forced, under duress, to sell his land – parcel C762 – to former President Albert Rene on January 10, 1979. He had claimed the land situated at Baie Lazare, comprised 86.5454 acres of prime agricultural land but only a nominal sum of R205,190 was paid upon the threat of acquisition, arrest and deportation.
He had also complained that two thirds of the land remains undeveloped and should be returned to the family, along with compensation at today’s land value.
Mr Lablache refuted the allegation that the land was sold to former President Rene. He said the land was bought by government and not by Mr Rene.
He explained that in an old file, there was no record of the sale of the property. He said the property was offered to the British government during the colonial days by a Mr Naidoo whom he presumed was the father of the late Rajaraman, for R300,000 in 1972.
He said Mr Naidoo wrote to the British government in 1972 to purchase his land which did not materialise and further in 1975, Mr Rene, who was the minister for land also rejected for government to buy the land on the ground that the money could be used elsewhere. He added that in 1978, after the coup d’Etat, Mr Naidoo, again called on the new government to buy his land, this time for R200,000 while he was to keep four acres to himself.
Mr Lablache said after a survey was done, government finally bought the property on January 10, 1979, including the four acres that he (Naidoo) wanted to keep.
He said later government leased the property to a third party. He explained that former President Rene signed the deal as he was acting on behalf of the republic and it was the reason why his name was on the transfer documents at that time. He said that nowadays the practice is being done by the principal secretary for land.
Cyril Lau-Tee talked about mercenaries, failed coups attempts
The commission also heard from Cyril Lau-Tee on his role in a resistance group that was based in the United Kingdom while he was in exile there. He said the group had the intention of mounting a coup in July 1986 with the help of foreigners and with former minister, the late David Joubert, as president.
He stated that he was going to be given a position, in the form of a high ranking pilot in the air force if the coup was to succeed. He explained that he received military training at army camps in Britain. He further told the commission that he had no idea who was financing the coup but presumed it was through funds raised by some Seychellois living abroad.
He said everything was well planned and he was chosen as the person to lead the foreign mercenaries when they were to land in Seychelles. He noted that there were at least 48 mercenaries including himself and another Seychellois, (but did not mention the name publicly) who were to fly to Seychelles via Kenya. They were to come to Seychelles onboard a navy frigate which he presumed belonged to either the British or Kenyan government as he believed both countries were also involved in the preparation of the coup.
Mr Lau-Tee claimed that the mercenaries were to be dropped off through dinghies in south Mahe and the Grand Police army camp was first on the list to be taken care of with the help of a first contingent of foreign mercenaries who would have been already be in the country.
He further claimed that it was the British Intelligence (MI6) who discovered the plan to overthrow the Seychelles government in 1986 while carrying out an investigation on two foreign mercenaries in the group who were involved in the kidnapping of an African National Congress (ANC) member in exile in Britain. He said US $2 million was already paid upfront to the mercenaries.
“We were busted,” he said noting that there was no plan B.
Mr Lau-Tee also said he was aware that the leader of the resistance group in Britain was engaging in conversation with other people in the Seychelles People’s Defence Forces (SPDF) who were also planning a coup against Mr Rene. Looking back Mr Lau-Tee said it was good that the coup was foiled as many people would have still been living in grief. He added that as a young man he joined the resistance at that time to seek revenge on the people who violated his rights and liberty, but is glad that it did not happen.
He claimed that former President James Mancham had nothing to do with the organisation of the coup. He also claimed that though there were some Seychellois exiled police officers in the resistance, they did not form part of the military contingent to overthrow the Albert Rene regime.
This was the second failed mercenary coup attempt on Seychelles following a failed mercenary attack on November 25, 1981.
Case 0205: Sidna Umbricht
Dr Kenneth Henriette was the last person in open session yesterday in relation to Case 0205: Sidna Umbricht concerning her brother, Claude Monnaie, who died after spending three weeks in hospital after a pick-up truck he was in and belonging to a Walter Constance was set on fire in October 2003, on Praslin.
In her evidence, Mrs Umbricht had named Dr Henriette as one of the doctors who treated Monnaie. She had claimed that her brother was recovering, as she was a witness by his side every day, until she was told to go home to rest only to learn the next day that he had suddenly passed away. The commission had wanted Dr Henriette’s version.
Dr Henriette said because he has no access to the medical case notes, the details surrounding the health of Mr Monnaie at that time are not fresh in his mind.
“There are some things that I cannot say, I cannot speculate as I don’t have the details or a medical report,” Dr Henriette said, noting that the previous medical library is in lockdown because it is infested with fungus for some years and is very risky to access.
He said the department of health is planning to digitalise all health records in the future. He pointed out that Mr Monnaie was severely burnt but he cannot recall if he was recovering or not unless he has the medical notes.
Patrick Joubert