Government has started legal proceedings aimed at getting possession of White’s Island from anti-gang organisation CARTEL, The Royal Gazette can report.CARTEL negotiated a so-called “21 years less a day” rent-free lease for the island in September 2010 — a deal which was to spark controversy when it came to light last year.Then Opposition MP Trevor Moniz, now the Public Works Minister, said then that it smacked of insider dealing and that the arrangement was corrupt because it was not put out to tender.But this newspaper can confirm that Government now considers the rent-free lease to be invalid under the Public Lands Act because it was not approved by Cabinet or Parliament.According to the Public Lands Act, the Public Works Minister must get Cabinet approval for leases which exceed 21 years, including any option by the leaseholder to renew.Last year a spokesman for the Ministry of Government Estates said that the island had been leased to CARTEL on September 28, 2010 under a 21 years less one day lease with CARTEL for use as “a facility for adventure training activities for the betterment of the people of Bermuda”.“The White’s Island lease is rent-free, as the Minister with responsibility for public lands [the Minister of Public Works] was satisfied that the Island would be used for charitable purposes.“Section 8(3) of the Public Lands Act 1984 requires that the Minister responsible for public lands receive the prior approval of Cabinet for the conveyance of any Government-owned land for a period of more than 21 years and up to 120 years and that such conveyance must also receive the approval of the Legislature. Therefore, legislative approval for the lease was not required.”But it now appears that the lease has an automatic renewal clause which would take it over 21 years — a fact not mentioned by the spokesperson at the time.Efforts to reach CARTEL founder Leroy Bean were not successful by press time last night.Last year Mr Bean defended the arrangement with Government saying that his anti-gang programme has “touched the lives of hundreds of young people”.Last year he ran a “Youth Empowerment Camp” which he reported had been scaled down to six weeks from 11 weeks the previous summer. But it does not appear that the camp has been in operation this summer.Government has continued the previous administration’s policy of not making the lease public, even though Mr Moniz called for such transparency when in Opposition.Government’s writ has been documented in the Registry of the Supreme Court, but a spokesman would only say that it would be inappropriate to comment on matters before the courts.