Joe Coye wins land case and government must pay

jose coye

The second case against GOB was Aquaworld versus the government over an erroneous land acquisition. That hearing started on Monday morning, continued this afternoon in the Chambers of Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh and ended with the government having to find a hundred thousand dollars to pay up. It’s all over a ten acre plot in the inner Placencia lagoon that was purchased by Aquaworld, a company owned by the family of former minister, Jose Coye. The land was in the process of being developed for subdivision when G.O.B. announced that it would be acquired for a nature reserve. Government attorney Magali Perdomo readily admitted that the acquisition was an administrative error, but denied that it was an unconstitutional transaction. She also said that the minister of Natural Resources, who was behind the acquisition, is willing to transfer the land back to the Coyes. But that’s an offer he does not legally have the power to fulfill so the Coyes sought a declaration from the courts to have the takeover reversed. What raised questions, is that the land was clearly unsuitable for a nature reserve because of its size and it had been cleared and filled. The CJ also questioned that claim because the company had all the necessary licenses and paperwork, including an Environmental Compliance Plan. CJ Conteh instead found it to be a deliberate oversight of necessary procedures in the acquisition of private land. While Coyes Attorney, Eamon Courtenay, was not convinced that it was mistake, GOB attorney Magali Perdomo says there was not enough proof that the ministry had bad intentions. The CJ, in response, compared that argument to “the road to hell paved with good intentions”. News Five spoke to the winning party after the case.

Eamon Courtenay, Attorney for Aqua World

eamon courtenay

“The Chief Justice has decided is that the government cannot act in an arbitrary, unconstitutional and egregious way by taking property belonging to private individuals and pretending that you have a public purpose when in truth and in fact you know very well that you’re being motivated by bad faith. What happened is that Aqua World, my client, had ten acres developed in Placencia, were about to start selling the lots. There was an election and all of a sudden, the Minister of Natural Resources decided that he was going to take away their land. They were written to and told that it was not suitable for a nature reserve which it says was a public purpose. The Chief Justice just said, that excuse was nothing more than a fig leaf and as a result, the court has ordered them to pay damages, to return the land and to pay the costs to Aqua World.”

Delahnie Bain

“And they’re claims that this was an administrative error, what is your take on that?”

Eamon Courtenay

“I would have said that the claim that it’s an administrative error is laughable, but it is not. It is not because this is a court case, this is a case before the Chief Justice in which affidavits are sworn. Crime of Perjury means that if you lie to a court, you are guilty of perjury. When people swear affidavits coming to court saying that this is an administrative error and the very evidence that they exhibit with the affidavit shows that it is not so, it is a very, very serious matter.”

Delahnie Bain

“You made a point of requesting that they be put on a deadline, why is that?”

Eamon Courtenay

“We have found that the government has given undertakings and agreed to pay monies to clients and then they don’t pay and so it seems to me that we have reached the stage where we have to ask the court to set a date so that they have to pay the money.”

Jose Coye, Former Minister of Health

“Yes, the Chief Justice has clearly declared that they have violated our constitutional rights, that the land remains the property of the family company so I think that was a success and he has given an award of damages so yes it was a day in court that we are quite satisfied with.”

Delahnie Bain

“How does the award compare to the money that you have lost over this period of time while this has been in court?”

Jose Coye

“It’s difficult to quantify it but I would say that it certainly would not make up for what we have lost in terms of once they acquire the land, the land was almost completed in its development and of course it carries a cost.”

Delahnie Bain

“Are you convinced that this was a mistake on their part or another attack on you?”

Jose Coye

“Oh no, no, no. I’m not convinced of that and I don’t think they are convinced of it. they know it’s not a mistake. This is a part of, I would say a smear campaign which somehow has been evolving into a vindictive hate against myself and my family.”

Aquaworld was awarded seventy-five thousand dollars in damages and thirty-five thousand dollars in court costs to be paid within three months.