Government is making clear its determination to reacquire land at Bay Street St. Michael that it says was sold to a local businessman by the previous government.

Attorney General Dale Marshal says in a statement that government will seek to negotiate with businessman Allan Kinch as a first option but if they cannot reach an agreement, the Land Acquisition Act will be used to acquire the properties and the Court will be asked to decide the amount of compensation.

Mr. Marshall says that while the previous administration agreed to sell the land, from the time the current government came to office, they made it clear to Mr. Kinch that they did not share the same approach and wanted to preserve part of that overall site for the public of Barbados.

He adds that while the Mottley administration couldn’t stop the sale due to the contract that had been signed, they made it clear that the new government wanted to go in a completely different direction.

Mr. Marshall stresses that these discussions took place before Mr. Kinch did any work at Bay Street and insists that therefore the businessman should not pretend to be taken by surprise by government’s stance.

The attorney general declares in the statement – quote – : “ We are committed to re-acquiring two of three parcels of land at Bay Street that were formerly vacant and freely utilised by generations of Barbadians. Barbadians must not be robbed of that right and whether car park or otherwise, we are intent on securing those rights for Barbadians. Some things are priceless – unquote.

The attorney general says what’s especially concerning is that every bit of work done on that site has been without the permission of the Planning and Development Office or the Health authorities.

And according to Mr. Marshall, government cannot have one set of laws for the Medes and another set for the Persians.