Govt asks High Court to order value of land compulsorily acquired from Stuart Hughes

Last Updated on Thursday, 26 October 2023, 18:31 by Denis Chabrol

Mr Stuart Hughes (Moray House Trust picture)

The State has asked the High Court to decide 0n the value of 1.9 acres of compulsorily acquired land at Canal Number 1, West Bank Demerara along the path of the gas-to-shore pipeline after the then owner repeatedly refused GY$2.5 million in compensation plus rem

In court papers seen by Demerara Waves Online News, Head of the Gas to Energy Task Force Winston Brassington said that 12-inch 255 kilometre pipeline from the Liza Phase 1 and Phase 2 Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel passes through several acreages of land, including land previously owned by Mr Stuart Hughes.

Mr Hughes is a well-known civil engineer. Demerara Waves Online News was told that the Hughes family has owned the land since 1848.

In light of the refusal of the GY$2.5 million based on government valuation and and an estimated GY$6.9 million for remedial drainage and access works by the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), the State wants the High Court to order that the value of the land be determined, and the amount that ought to be paid for the land that was acquired from Mr Hughes.

Assistant Solicitor General Shoshanna Lall said, “it is in the interest of justice, and indeed in the public interest, that this Honourable Court determines the fixed date application given the far-reaching consequences for the State and the ongoing Gas to Energy project.”