By Bernadette H. Carreon
Horizon news staff

The Supreme Court Appellate Division has reversed the ruling of the Land Court involving a land situated in Ngerkesoaol Hamlet in Koror State.
The dispute on the land known as Motokei begun when appellant Lalii Markub challenged the Land Court’s decision awarding the land to Koror State Public Lands Authority (KSPLA).
Markub claimed that the Land Court erred when it made a judgment that she was not the proper heir of the land.
Markub’s argument was that Silvester, her father owned the land until 1942 when he sold it to Japanese citizen Fukushima for 900 yen to be used as a power plant by the Japanese government.
Court records showed that Fukushima only paid 400 yen .
The appellate court ruled that under the Constitution, the national government will return to the original owners or their heirs if the land was taken to them by force or without just compensation.
"When land was wrongfully taken by a foreign power, the government has the duty to find original owners or their heirs and give it back, " the opinion stated.
The seven page opinion said the case is further remanded back to the Land Court for further proceedings.