Remengesau reiterates that he does not own 47 lands

Remengesau during his press conference explained that the list of alleged lands he owned “were completely distorted and blown out of proportion.”Earlier presidential candidate Joshua Koshiba questioned Remengesau’s properties; he said that documents listing his lands showed that the president is lying about the wealth he has amassed during his term.The president however fired back at Koshiba saying that the latter is known for making allegations without solid evidence.“It is unfortunate but it seems that throughout his career, the Senator has been quick to say things without regard for their truthfulness that often result in valuable time and resources being spent to address such irresponsible statements,” Remengesau said.Koshiba in a separate interview said that under the law gifts that are worth more than $100 should be considered as government property.Koshiba also added that the president failed to explain how much the properties he had acquired were.In his weekly press conference, the president said that while he has been in public office there have been people that have asked for financial assistance because of medical and other unexpected emergencies.He said these people who have asked assistance from him put up their lands as collateral, he said some of these loans have been paid back and he no longer has claim to the properties listed in the document.The list , Remengesau said also showed that there were lands listed multiple times and are jointly owned by several people but on the list they are listed separately so it looks like there are more lands.He also explained that half of the land properties that are registered under the President’s name are lands that were given to him through strong family and clan relationships or deeded as gifts for his children.He said that the dissemination of the list is “clearly misleading and politically motivated.”“If the senator and the governor had taken time to verify the transactions on the list they would have easily found out the truth and we would not be here to set the record straight yet again instead of addressing more important issues that our people and government are facing today,” the president said.He added that Koshiba did not even bother to verify the information in the list.“For the senator to say that I own 47 land properties and to actively distribute the list without taking the time to consider the information carefully is malicious and uncharacteristic of someone running for the highest office,” Remengesau said.The president said there is also no truth to Koshiba’s allegation that he is building a $200,000 home in Choll, Ngaraard and that he has purchased land in Las Vegas, Nevada.“I don’t know where the Senator got his information but if he had only taken the time to ask, he would have known that this is simply not true. I have not purchased any lands in Las Vegas,” the president said.