Reef Village Sues G.O.B. for Compulsory Land Acquisition

A lawsuit has been brought against the Minister of Natural Resources for the compulsory acquisition of a parcel of land in San Pedro.  The property belonged to Reef Village Development II Limited and was acquired by government for use as an easement by the San Pedro Town Council.  According to attorney Dean Barrow, government failed to follow the required procedures in going about with the land acquisition.  His clients are seeking to have the process voided and the land returned to them.

Dean Barrow

Dean Barrow, SC, Attorney-at-law

“The Compulsory Acquisition Act requires that for the Minister of Lands to acquire any private property compulsorily, the minister must publish declarations to that effect in the government gazette.  The minister complied with the law and published those declarations and the law is that after the requisite number of publications has been complied with, the land automatically becomes the property of the government.  Now, of course, to put flesh on the bone, so to speak, to make that… the practical consequences or the practical repercussion of the acquisition require that the register showing ownership of the property acquired by the government be adjusted to reflect the new state of affairs, the fact that there is new ownership of the acquired property and that new ownership is in the name of the Government of Belize.  So all that was done and resulted in the compulsory acquisition of our client’s property.”