Dispute Heats Up O Ver Savusavu Land
A prime state land in Savusavu is now a source of controversy with some Savusavu residents.
The land is part of Nabauto. It is situated on the west end of Ganilau Park in Savusavu, Cakaudrove.
The leased land falls within the Savusavu Town boundary. It has an area of 1.5454 hectare.
The land was originally zoned to the Savusavu Town Council for a playing field.
However, a special lease was registered to helicopter company – Helipro (Fiji) Limited for a helicopter base and accommodation.
The 99-year state lease was signed by the former Director of Lands and registered valuer, William Singh, in April 2016.
Five years on, no form of development has been made on the land. The land is still leased to Helipro. Mortgage documents reveal that slightly a month after the lease was registered to Helipro, the land was mortgaged to HFC Bank in the amount of $975,000.
The mortgage was endorsed Mr Singh on May 26, 2016.
Many residents of Savusavu were unaware of when the lease was issued. They now want it to be revertby ed to its original recreational use. Ratepayer and Savusavu real estate agent Arren Nunnink said he would like to see the land be put to better use.
Mr Nunnink is the Managing Director for Heron Enterprises Limited in Savusavu.
He has been working closely with American couple, Megan and Dan Keller, who are spearheading a project to set up a recreational centre in Savusavu.
The Kellers have been living in Savusavu for three years. The recreational project is impeded by the lack of space in the Hidden Paradise. But the former American film directors agree that a piece of land next to Ganilau Park would be an ideal location.
This recreational facility would include a basketball, netball and volleyball courts, a swimming pool and a children’s park.
Mr Nunnink said the piece of land was meant for the Savusavu Town Council to develop for the people of Savusavu.
“I had raised the issue of the land in a meeting with the former Minister for Lands Ashneel Sudhakar, and he was really interested,” he said.
“Majority of the people present at that meeting did not know that the land was already leased to Helipro.”
Savusavu Town Council chief executive officer Seema Dutt said she wasn’t aware of the land issue and they did not have the records of the transaction.
Questions were sent to the Department of Town and Country Planning director Mohammed Ziar, the Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources director Irena Nayacalevu and permanent secretary Raijeli Taga, and former director of Lands Mr Singh.
Ms Taga replied to say that they would ‘revert with response.’
All questions remain unanswered when this Shine a Light edition went to press.
Before Shine a Light ran the What Else is Hidden in Paradise? article last Saturday, Helipro country manager Graeme Hedge had agreed to be interviewed on Wednesday. However, when he was contacted via phone call around 7:30pm on Tuesday for a confirmation of the interview, he said: “Do you know what time it is? Do you have no respect? I had told you I was on a medevac flight? I will report you. Don’t contact me again.”
This was after his attempts to get in touch with Fiji Sun Publisher/ chief executive officer Peter Lomas.
CONDITION OF LEASE AGREEMENT
Under condition three of the lease agreement, it states: “The lessee (Helipro) shall, within two year from the date of the commencement of this lease erect on the demised land, to the satisfaction of the lessor, a building for Special Use – Helicopter Base & Accommodation purposes in accordance with the provisions of the Public Health Regulations or any By-laws made under the provisions of the Local Government Act”.
Condition four further states: “The demised land shall be used solely for Special Use- Helicopter Base & Accommodation and for no other purposes whatsoever. Should the land cease to be used for the aid purpose for a period of 12 consecutive months, the lease shall be deemed to be automatically cancelled”.
To date, no form of development has been made on the land. Enquiries made by Shine a Light reveal the lease is still under Helipro.
ABOUT THE LAND
Mr Nunnink claims that the Department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP), which falls under the Ministry of Local Government, were not aware of any rezoning being made on the piece of land.
A source at the department who spoke on the condition of not being named, said the land was still
zoned as civic open space.
This is different from the records at the Ministry of Land. Mr Nunnink further claims that there was no notice advertised for the rezoning of the land before and after the lease was registered to Helipro.
LEGAL ACTION
Shine several
Helipro of debt.
One of the companies is Trivest International Limited – an Australian company that deals with numerous businesses, including scrap metals, tourism and real estate investment. Its owner is millionaire Albert Bertini.
Trivest, represented by Lal Patel Bale Lawyers, had filed an injunction in early 2018 for Helipro to return two of its aircraft that they were holding and not paying for. In March 2018, the High Court in Suva had ordered for the seizure of the Robinson R44 Helicopter Registration No. DQ VAT, and the Piper Navajo Aircraft PA31 Serial No:317612018.
However, when the court order was executed, it was discovered that most parts of the aircraft and helicopter were dismantled and were non-functioning.
The aircraft was sold by Lal Patel Bale Lawyers to Northern Air for a Light understands that companies have taken to court for non-payment $30,000.
In April 2018, the High Court in Suva also ordered Helipro to pay Trivest International Limited a claim sum of $1,538,111.17. This amount was reduced to $1,508,111.17 following the sale of the Piper Navajo aircraft to Northern Air.
“The deal was in a leasing agreement where our clients would get to use the aircraft to come back and forth to Suva and customers, so whatever trips we (clients) took, they would minus it off as lease payments so that by the end of the year, there’d be a wash-up,” lawyer Renee Lal said.
“So they wouldn’t give the trips to our clients and secondly they stripped the aircraft and when we got the aircraft it was a non-functioning aircraft and even the helicopter. They basically stripped it and we were not left with much. “And they (Helipro) were supposed to use our client’s hanger at Vatulele and that’s how they got their license, by using the hanger at Vatulele.”
Ms Lal said their client was trying to wound up Helipro.
“No point in pushing it because we are not going to get anything. They got mortgages with the bank and I’m pretty confident their vehicles got repossessed,” she said. “They (Helipro) are trying to stop us from winding them up. To be frank, they (Helipro) have not had any money, other than the aircraft we repossessed. It is serious business repossessing an aircraft, it’s a costly exercise.
“When we finally got the aircraft, we realised the engine wasn’t there. We thought we’d get the aircraft, we’d sell it to at least reduce the debt, and then we realised it basically was the shell.”
Ms Lal said Helipro had always disputed the debts with their clients.
Shine a Light understands that former Helipro pilot was a supporting creditor in the case against Helipro.
The former employee claims nonpayment of wages in the amount of $32,563.91.
When contacted for a comment, the former employee declined to comment on the particulars of the court case.
However, when asked why he had resigned, the former employee said: “Because they changed the new pilot and they didn’t want me to work. There was a reason, but that’s all part of my court case and I am not at liberty to discuss that.”
ABOUT THE COMPANY
Helipro was incorporated under the Companies Act on August 10, 2012.
The business conducts emergency only services and medical evacuation operations.
The company carries out medevac work for the Ministry of Health. It is alleged that Helipro outsources medevac contracts to licensed helicopter operators, but charges more for its services.
The three Australian ers are:
■ Michael Barbieri worth of shares;
■ Geoffrey Hedge – $136,000 worth of shares; and
■ Peter Scollary – $132,000 worth of shares.
The share capital of the company was to be $3 million divided into 3,000,000 shares of $1 each. The directors are Mr Barbieri and non-shareholding resident Daniel Lobendahn.
Graeme Hedge is listed as the secretary on search results obtained from the Registrar of Companies (ROC) in 2018.
The company’s registered office at the Paul McDonnell Lawyers office in Savusavu is not operational. Shine a Light this week was informed by a staff at the Registrar that the file for Helipro had been missing for a long time.
It is understood that Helipro has no operating license for aviation. sharehold
– $132,000
Majority of the people present at that meeting did not know that the land was already leased to Helipro. Arren Nunnink Managing director for Heron Enterprises Limited