By Isaac Nicholas in Post Courier

THE national government will start cancelling special agriculture business leases (SABL) that were acquired illegally and restart the process with strict guidelines to protect landowners.

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill told a FM 100 Talkback show yesterday that Cabinet has appointed a ministerial committee headed by Forest Minister Patrick Pruaitch and relevant industry ministers of Lands (Benny Allen) and Agriculture (Tommy Tomscoll) to take note of the SABL Inquiry report and implement its recommendations.

He said three commissioners were appointed to look into the SABL arrangements and as a result only two commissioners furnished their reports and their conclusions while one commissioner did not, even though he was fully paid but that is now subject to a separate investigation.

"I want to say clearly that a ministerial team has been appointed  and is in-charge of the matter and they have been told to go in and fully take note of the SABL and my view is to try and cancel the leases that were not acquired properly so we can restart the process," Mr O’Neill said.

The Prime Minister said the SABL in itself is a good concept but a few individuals have gone out there and acquired land because of the ignorance of the people who will be deprived of this particular land that they have given out.

"We are going to correct it and I will make sure that we terminate the leases of those that were acquired illegally, done not in a proper manner and I have already called Chief Secretary to request the agencies that I have stated – Agriculture, Lands and Forestry – to fasttrack this and that is happening as we speak and I hope that over the next few weeks we will start the process of terminating the leases," he said.

"And the second thing is to get this SABL concept up and running properly so we have proper agricultural developments going around the country but we must set a proper guideline and limit the amount of acreages that will go, our people must not lose their land and that is the bottom line."

He said apart from the SABL leases, the government is looking at compulsory acquisition of land in towns and cities that will be reserved for communal usage like sports and recreation and parks.