Bay Street land dispute tied up in court

Government rejects claims that it’s unfairly delaying compensating the Mirchandani family for land acquired at Bay Street, insisting the matter now has to be settled in the high court after the state’s offer was rejected.

At issue is payment for government’s acquisition of the former Liquidation Centre at Bay Street, St. Michael, property that is earmarked for a hotel project.

The matter has been in limbo for the past four years with government insisting that the land tax valuation for the property was 4.5 million dollars and while the state was willing to pay up to 12 million dollars the owners wanted more and repeated attempts to negotiate a settlement failed.

Yesterday businesswoman, Asha “Mrs. Ram” Mirchandi, complained to journalists about the length of time the matter has dragged on without the family being compensated.

But Attorney General Dale Marshall tells Starcom Network Network News government made every effort to settle the matter and now it’s up to the courts.