C.C.J. Seeks Further Evidence in B.L.D.C. Versus G.O.B.

In a separate ruling, released on Monday, the Caribbean Court of Justice remitted for further hearing a dispute between the Belmopan Land Development Corporation and the Attorney General of Belize. The dispute is over the valuation of over a thousand acres of land acquired by the government from the Belmopan Land Development Corporation. After G.O.B. took possession, B.L.D.C. requested payment at fair market value. Both parties went into negotiations, but were unsuccessful in reaching an agreement. B.L.D.C. then filed a constitutional action claiming damages. A B.L.D.C. land appraiser argued in court that the land should be valued as city expansion for sixteen million dollars, and the trial judge accepted the opinion. The Court of Appeal and the majority of the C.C.J., on the other hand, decided that the manner in which B.L.D.C.’s land appraiser arrived at his conclusion was flawed. C.C.J. further decided that the case should be remitted for further evidence. The court also ordered G.O.B. to make an interim payment to B.L.D.C. in the sum of six million Belize dollars with interest from the first of January 2014.