A faction of the Ngeribkal clan issued a letter to some of the land tenants of the 28-acre piece of ancestral land in Tiull, Ngerbeched who reportedly refused or failed to make payments for rent, notifying them to vacate the property by April 16 or else face legal repercussions.

In a letter dated March 19, 2018 which was signed by Dirribkal Mary Hiroko Sugiyama of the Ngeribkal clan and was addressed to one of the tenants of the disputed land property, it was stated that the tenant had allegedly shown contempt and disrespect to the authority of the traditionally recognized representatives and administrators of the clan by failing to heed the call of the clan to pay or make arrangements with their due rents by 5 p.m. of March 16.

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“In our February 23, 2018 letter to you, you were notified that our clan has met and recognized my personal effort to prosecute and finance the claim of our clan from the Land Court proceedings and beyond to the appellate process until our clan finally regained its land which it lost unjustly and wrongfully to the Japanese corporations and nationals,” the letter read.

The letter also stated that with the tenant’s alleged defiance to pay for their due rents on the property and failure to make arrangements with the clan on the payment, their “immediate eviction from any portion” of the disputed land “has come.”

“Therefore, you and your family and all persons presently residing or occupying the land where your house and personal property are located are hereby ordered and directed to vacate our property by April 16, 2018 after receipt of this letter, otherwise Ngeribkal Clan will be forced to file an action for your eviction and for the payment of the past due rents, plus reasonable attorney’s fees, and such further relief in accordance with law and equity [sic],” the letter stated.

The letter also emphasized that no other person or persons were authorized by their clan to administer and manage their newly recovered land.

Twenty-six Tiull land tenants reportedly sent a letter to Sugiyama, expressing their refusal to pay their dues to her as they will be settling their accounts instead to the members of the other faction of the Ngeribkal clan.

Island Times previously reported that the Ngeribkal clan reacquired the land property after decades of fighting for its ownership when the Palau Court affirmed their appeal last November 2017. They previously claimed that their fight for the right to claim the land cost them thousands of dollars which they appropriated for attorney fees, among others.

The Ngeribkal clan previously said that they had been fighting for the ownership of the ancestral land since the early 1950s after they lost their claim to the property during the Japanese occupation.

It was also previously reported that many of the homeowners in Tiull in the early 1950s had moved from other states to Koror and leased portions of this land from the Trust Territory Government. The Trust Territory Government then transferred the land to Koror State Government which continued to lease the lands to applicants.

Last January, resident of Tiull began receiving bills from Diribkal Hiroko Sugiyama and Ngiribkal Milang Eberdong that allegedly ranged from $300 per month to over a $1,000 per month that are retroactive to 2015 but this was later reported by the clan that out of the 65 households currently residing within their property, they have exempted several senior citizens from paying the rent while majority of the tenants only have to pay a rental ranging from $200 to $500 per month.

They said that there are only four of the tenants whom they charged with a rental fee of $1,000 or more as they owned commercial buildings in the property. (Rhealyn C. Pojas/Reporter)[/restrict]