By Elesha George
On Tuesday, December 3rd, 2019, a declaration was passed in the Lower House of Parliament to complete the legal process that would allow the government to compulsorily acquire parcels of land on Friars Hill Road to be used to complete the construction of the highway.
“What we’re doing here is completing the legal process and procedure for acquisition of those lands that we need to acquire,” said the Minister of Works and Member of Parliament for St Phillips South, Lennox Weston, who added that “in doing so there will be some sliver, small pieces of land that will have to be acquired”.
The Lower House approved that the declaration be made by the Secretary to the Cabinet for that specific “public purpose”, in agreement with a Cabinet decision made on Wednesday, July, 10th, 2019.
The resolution, which was passed without debate, is expected “to facilitate the construction [and] expansion” of the Friars Hill road as part of the GBP 13.9-million United Kingdom Caribbean Infrastructure Partnership Fund (UKCIF) project.
According to Weston, “The government is for the first time, maybe in about 30 years, building new highways”.
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