by Georgina Maka’a
The Government has suspended the Commissioner of Lands, Alan McNeil, In-Depth Solomons has learned.
The decision was conveyed to McNeil today in a letter signed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Service, Luke Cheka.
In-Depth Solomons has seen a copy of the letter.
Cheka said the decision was taken following serious allegations of misconduct in office that his office has received on the Kongulai water source land.
He said the allegations relate to the following:
- Fraudulent execution of lease documents (RT 10 Form) and MOU on the 26th November 2023, knowing that the parties/trustees have been deceased relating to parcel 191-064-1 (Kongulai water source)
- Breach of High Court Order (Civil Case No. 463 of 2009)
- Misrepresenting a ‘Good Will’ payment by former prime minister (Manasseh Sogavare) to be a final payment to the disputed November 2023 lease agreement.
Cheka said an investigation will be carried out while McNeil is on suspension.
When reached for comments, McNeil confirmed his suspension.
“Correct,” he said when responding to a question whether he was suspended or not.
“I’m working on my response,” McNeil said.
An Australian citizen married to a Solomon Islander, McNeil is a planning and land specialist.
He has been Commissioner of Lands since 2020. Prior to that, he worked as planning adviser to the Guadalcanal Provincial Government.
Over the years he worked as an urban planner/land specialist, held SPC (Pacific Community) technical adviser roles and worked as a consultant on surveying/land projects before joining the Ministry of Lands & Housing.
Recently, he resigned from the Solomon Water board over differences with other Board members on the Kongulai Water Treatment Plant Project.
The ADB-funded contractor, a little-known Indian company called Rean Watertech, was terminated for failing to meet contractual requirements, but certain board members are instead placing the full blame for the continued delay to the project on Solomon Water management.
According to McNeil, this is wrong, and that’s the reason why he resigned from the board.