Tonga Gas Senior Officers in Hot Water Over Alleged Lease Negotiation Misrepresentation
The Tonga Gas Limited finds itself embroiled in controversy as three Senior officers of the company are under scrutiny for their handling of a lease negotiation in Vava’u. What started as a routine attempt to renew a lease on a piece of land has now evolved into an internal investigation, with allegations of misrepresentation and inappropriate conduct.
Sources close to the matter revealed to Tonga Independent that the Tonga Gas Ltd was in talks to extend their lease of a valuable piece of land in Vava’u. A negotiation team was formed, consisting of three Senior Management officers, tasked of securing a favourable deal with the landowner. However, what followed has raised serious questions about the integrity of the process.
According to the source, one of the leaders of the negotiation team informed the Chairman of the board that the landlord initially demanded an increase in the lease to $500,000 for 20 years. However, after negotiations, they claimed to have brought the amount back down to the current lease value of $250,000 for 20 years, saving the company a substantial $250,000.
Following this alleged success, the same senior management officer then made a bold request for a bonus in a letter sent to the chairman, citing the money saved for the company. The Chairman reportedly brought this request to the board, which approved the bonuses of $20,000, $10,000, and $10,000 for each of the officers based on their perceived contributions to the deal.
The situation took a dramatic turn when a change in directors for the Utilities board occurred. The new directors were aware of the new lease negotiation. One of these directors was aware of the landlord personally and in an unexpected encounter the director expressed the boards gratitude to the landlord for his generosity in the deal. To his surprise, the landlord denied any such increase in the lease amount, stating firmly that he had always agreed to $250,000 to continue and had not demanded $500,000.
Tonga Gas Ltd had requested an affidavit from the landlord to aid in their investigation of the Senior Management Officers. Tonga Independent has obtained a signed copy of this affidavit, which contradicts the claims made by the officers regarding the negotiated lease amount.
