Council of Churches to mediate U.D.P./Government dispute

Although it has rejected the government’s offer to purchase the land their headquarters is sitting on, the United Democratic Party has agreed to an offer made by the Council of Churches to mediate the dispute between the U.D.P. and the government. Party Leader Dean Barrow says this new development will not change how the party feels but it will accept whatever proposal the council makes.

Dean Barrow, Leader of the Opposition, U.D.P.

“We are open now to whatever proposals the Council of Churches might bring. Whatever position we had taken before the offer of the Council of Churches would have to be reviewed in the context of having accepted now the mediation. So we won’t want to prejudge whatever process of dialogue they would engage in. So I would say that officially we are at an open mind providing that the government does accept the offer as well for the Council of Churches to mediate.”

Barrow appeared before the Acting Chief Justice Troadio Gonzalez this morning to present the U.D.P.’s case in court. The decision has been delayed until next Friday. The U.D.P. claims they were given the entire strip of land at the foot of the BelChina by the previous government while the government contends that the parcel worth over six hundred thousand dollars was given illegally and that the U.D.P. evaded the necessary taxes. They intend to build low income houses on the land surrounding the headquarters.