It has been alleged in some articles published, during the last weeks, that this issue is only for the Residence Les Corsaires when in fact it seems to be more an NHDC scandal in their administration not having supposedly dealt with the allocation of property ethically. We put forward that honest purchasers having met the criteria put to them by the administration of the day at NHDC had complied with them at the time and it is not acceptable that a few years later the new administration would review the criterions, and ask those purchasers to bend over backwards to abide by new criterions that are set by the new administration, which has been fuelled by certain political, press and media lobbying. We also argue that there is an existing contractual obligation towards those existing genuine and honest purchasers who are being adversely affected by those allegations that relates, as stated, more to an NHDC issue.

We refer to an article that was published in l?express dated 14 June 2004 that there were more that one development offered with the same criteria namely «Les Corsaires» at Mon-Choisy and «Les Flibustiers» at Trou-aux-Biches. These NHDC units were advertised on newspapers at time of allocation for which the public was made aware of its availability and price; and those interested could have lodged their applications like those residents who have been successful in meeting the criteria applied by the administration of the NHDC then, but were either not interested or not able to meet those criteria.

Each and every Purchaser was screened and assessed rigorously by the NHDC and has followed the procedures required by the Vendor (NHDC). The NHDC set all conditions for the sale and even appointed their notary for which every purchaser would have met those criteria on the day of their individual contractual purchase of their property.

Those criteria were :

● The NHDC targeted potential buyers with at least Rs 20,000 monthly income without any mention of a maximum ceiling for the monthly income as their concerns were that the purchasers would afford to pay a higher price (Rs 715,000 ? Rs 900,000) and have acceptable propensity to make the loan repayment of around Rs 6,600 per month for 10 years.

● The deposit required was as high as Rs 215,000 and time frame to effect the deposit was within 15 days; failing which, the NHDC assumed the selected buyer no more interested and offered to next potential buyers.

● There was a premium of Rs 300,000 above the real cost of the duplex which compensate largely the surrounding infrastructure which made it nearly double the price of a normal NHDC development to cross-subsidise for other low income NHDC developments.

We also put forward that it seems that the NHDC did intend to have the property be fenced or have walls erected around the compound of the development. Hence, considered to be a private gated property and accordingly the intent behind this is also supported by the mention that this is indeed private property is a sign mentioning the same at the main entrance. In spite of this, the journalists from your organisations have clearly disregarded this proposition and have taken their liberty to breach the privacy of the residents of Residence Les Corsaires which would amount to trespassing. Furthermore, there has been no courtesy put forward by your organisation to request for the honest resident?s permission to publish pictures of their property not involved in these allegations to mislead the public that these residents were involved in these matters...

As those (...) articles have been published, it has caused damages to the name of the properties at Residence Les Corsaires for which those honest purchasers have paid a fair price above and beyond the usual price set by the NHDC for which the value of those properties have now been devalued as a result of those unsolicited negative publicity that has nothing to do with the majority of honest owners of this development, who have taken up loans for which they are paying their fair share to only see that they are not going to have the property real value resulting from these articles. We would request of your institutions to rectify its representation accordingly to avoid possible legal proceedings as those residents are in the process of contemplating legal proceedings for such damages and loss of enjoyment of their properties for the trespassing and breach of privacy of their own home.

One final point, we would also like to mention that many articles have been written on the «Les Corsaires» purchasers who have carried out modifications as, in fact, some residents have only added a porch for outdoor activities. As a result of these allegations from the articles that this development was only for the «rich» and are described as 3 to 4 stars bungalows, we believe that this would definitely result in an invitation for burglars and thieves to break into the properties within the development and thereby endanger our lives...

The Managing Committee <I>Les Corsaires Residents Association</I>