The Cantonments home of a then-sitting Clerk of Parliament was sold to a private developer in 2015, Lands Minister Samuel Jinapor has clarified.

The new owner only took possession of it in 2019, he told parliament on Thursday, 23 November 2023.

The minister's claim contradicts that of the Parliamentary Service, which claimed in an earlier statement that the property, along with others, was sold in 2019 to private developers.

“Not too long ago, it was said that the accommodation of the clerk of parliament was sold in 2019. Mr. Speaker, I want to submit to this house, the house of records that my checks at the Lands Commission suggest that the clerk of parliament’s accommodation or residence was sold in 2015 and not 2019. Mr. Speaker, the then-Minister of Works and Housing gave an offer to a private developer in 2015.”

“A lease was granted to the developer in 2015. These records are unimpeachable. It happened in 2015 and not 2019. It just so happened that the developer, having bought the land in 2015, hadn’t been given an offer letter in 2015, and took possession in 2019,” Mr. Jinapor noted.