A few landowners, whose land was taken for the construction of the Gelegphu airport, are still not happy with the latest land substitution. This time, they were offered the 27-acres between the airport and Gelegphu-Sarpang Highway.
Of the 13 landowners, who are dissatisfied with the replacement land, a few say they will need more time, at least till the end of May, before the decision is made final. They want approval from all the concerned agencies as well.
However, the land committee members say the decision is final and binding.
Several discussions between the landowners and the committee members had taken place earlier. But, they had failed to come to a consensus.
During a meeting held in June 2010, both the parties had decided that the substitution would be done through lucky dip system. Following the decision, the landowners were to be allotted land in early 2011.
But then, another problem had cropped up.
The National Land Commission, in a meeting held in November 2011, did not approve the land compensation of the 13 land owners. They said the 13 landowners, whose land were in Samtenling Gewog, cannot be compensated with land that fell under Gelegphu Gewog
The Land Act 2007 states that the land compensation has to be given from the same gewog.
The landowners were then allotted land within the gewog. The landowners refused to take them saying the allotted land were further away from the town as compared to the land they owned.
Some of the land owners were not happy with the land substitute given this time as well and said they need time till the end of May.
As per the civil aviation, the land identified, falls away from the flight funnel and transition zone so the people will not be affected.
