The Samoa Land Corporation (S.L.C.) is standing by its decision to name individuals who owe the corporation money from land leases.

The Chief Executive Officer, Ulugia Petelo Kavesi, told the Samoa Observer the Corporation has resorted to airing a public notice with names after they tried unsuccessfully to recover the Corporation’s money.

Ulugia declined to say how much money was owed by the 45 names on the list.

 “We did not publish how much they owed,” he said. “All we can say is that they owe arrears to the S.L.C.”

The public notice was issued on the first week of November 2019.

The notice warned that the non payment of leases was a violation of the lease agreement signed between the parties.

 “The S.L.C. has given ample time to members of the public to clear their accounts with the Corporation, yet you are not heeding to advice,” the notice reads.

The notice also warned that S.L.C. would continue to publish the list on the monthly basis with the names of the families and businesses including the vendors that owes rent to the market in Savalalo, Vaitele and Salelologa.

Lastly, the notice warned that failure to comply with lease payments could lead to legal action and the termination of leases.