Owners challenge land acquisition for E-W Arterial
(CNS): The NRA expects to finish the next phase of the East-West Arterial Road in Savannah from Hurst Road to Woodland Drive within a year. But people who have been forced to give up land as part of the compulsory acquisition for this five-phase 20-year project said they have not yet been compensated. Some claim they have lost their entire family land to provide a road that many feel is unnecessary and will not solve the traffic issue.
Speaking at a meeting in Savannah last week, Premier Wayne Panton said government was taking the issue of compensation seriously. He said that he was aware of the challenges some people faced and the delays in paying families who have lost land, as well as disputes over the value. He said he was working to ensure that people are paid in a timely manner and that the Constitution’s provision for paying in a reasonable time frame would be met.
Panton said he did not think that delays as long as three years were reasonable and said he was even aware of some families waiting 13 years to be paid by government after land was compulsorily purchased.
“My view is a reasonable period of time is not three years; it’s not five years; it’s not 13 years, as in some cases I’ve been involved with. It’s a reasonable period of time, which is much shorter. So I can tell you that that’s the view of the government,” he said.
One landowner who questioned how acquisitions are being handled said he planned to take his case to court because he did not feel he was being fairly compensated for losing his family’s heritage and wanted to protect others in the future “from this kind of injustice”. He said the valuation of land by officials was not “consistent, fair and equitable”, and building roads was not the solution to too many cars on an island where the land will soon run out.
But if government presses ahead with the most controversial phase of the road, from Woodland Drive to Frank Sound through the Central Mangrove Wetlands, there will be even more concerns about compensation.
At the meeting, NRA Director Edward Howard said they expected to engage the consultants to undertake the environmental impact assessment for this phase of the road, which he said would take anywhere between 12 and 16 months. He said the EIA would involve public consultation and “a lot of input from the environmental groups and different stuff like that”.
But during the meeting, it became clear that people who lost land in previous phases of this road have not yet been compensated, fuelling further concerns about the final phase.
Panton explained that the politicians do not get involved in the mechanics of compulsory land purchases because the negotiations are conducted by civil servants, but he said the government was encouraging an approach that reflects property market values and the rights of owners.
“We need to make sure that people are paid for land that is acquired and I don’t believe in it being dragged on for years and years and years. That’s what has happened too often in the past,” he said, noting that it was often difficult for people to agree on the value of land.
The final phase is likely to pose even more questions of fairness. While some families will lose their entire landholdings to the road and are unlikely to get what they feel is the true value of their land in return, others will be cashing in on the accessibility offered by the road. Those with land close to the road will see the value of their property increase because the highway will open it up for development.
Land close to the proposed route of this road is already appearing on realtor listings, which is causing significant environmental concerns that this road, which the government is billing as a solution to traffic issues, will not only fail to address the real cause of Cayman’s traffic woes but will also spell the death knell for the central wetlands and have a massive detrimental impact on the broader environment.
But Howard justified the NRA’s road development programme, especially in the Savannah- Newlands area. He showed attendees at the meeting the numerous developments and sub-divisions in the planning pipeline in this area, which will see hundreds of homes appearing in the next few years, fuelling the need for more roads.
This will result in even more development because, according to the premier, the government is contemplating the need for more schools in the area or expanding the existing primary schools in the Bodden Town district. More development means that flooding in the district is expected to get worse, and the NRA will need to do evermore work to deal with excess water that will have nowhere to go as concrete covers more and more land.
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
Category: development, Local News
The solution for this is quite simple. Publish the road Boundary Plan. Then notify owners along the path of the intended take so that those who desire to make a claim can do so. But…prohibit the actual take and any further development of the road until all landowner claims have been settled. I can’t go to Vampt Motors, grab a car and drive it off, and then tell them to send me a claim for their car and we can negotiate a price. I would be promptly arrested for auto theft. The law needs to be changed so that no government land acquisition can be completed, nor road development commenced, until all the claims are settled and the land is paid for.
Taking and using something one did not properly compensate the owner for is thievery and government is nothing more than common thieves if they develop roads over land that they did not settle with the owner for. The government’s strong-arm robbery has to cease!
Betcha the bush house opposite West Bay ramp got a big payout. Fast too!
The E-W Arterial is actually very unnecessary. It only serves to open up more virgin habitat in Cayman that, then DART can scoop up to further destroy and charge the Cayman people to use it so DART gets all the profits and more. They need to run ANTI-TRUST actions on DART Foundation and Development. He should have any right to do anything as if he is a Caymanian National because he is not, and far from it. If we truly need a road there it should be for the Caymanian people to decide and not Dart, or any other so called Caymanians or implants. Get out of OUR Lands and all our affairs! Government too should be ashamed of themselves. Especially the Department of Planning. They are a true scourge on this island. Everyone needs to get the hell out of our Country and OFF OUR LANDS!!NOT YOURS!!! Only for Caymanians and UK. Goodbye!!
The east-west arterial is very necessary, however the owners should be paid every penny due to fthem in a timely manner.. why make a simple thing rocket science. .
Build a road from GT to Bodden Town. Problem solved.
NRA want to take some of my land but I cannot get any professional help as theses lawyers say they don’t get paid enough in fees and it takes so long. Can anyone recommend a firm that deals with compensation claims?
Most valuation companies will be able to assist you through the process.
Actually most valuation firms have given up advising on road compensation claims as negotiating with the Government’s Valuation Office has become near to impossible and the Government will not cover the valuation firms’ full fees, only some arbitrary hourly rate that was set by Government years ago and that is no longer comparable with the market rate. It’s almost as if the Government don’t want the claimants to have proper professional representation…
Sounds like something a couple of Parliamentarians could change (or at least propose a change for). Especially if someone so clearly knowledgeable of the system wrote the four lines of text it would take to propose a new hourly rate.
Not anymore. NRA do not want the landowners to get proper advice as they would have to pay more in compensation and then have to pay the advisers as well!
I have asked a few but most valuation firms are not interested as they don’t get their fees paid for years, if at all, and lands depart do not wish to discuss until the claim is settled, unless the owner pays upfront regularly, but that defeats the object of the landowner not being out of pocket!
You need to ask for the Road Assessment Committee to make a determination straight away. Don’t both with NRA or Lands Dept. as they don’t know what they doing, and as soon as the Auditor General looks into compensation matters the better.
Just build a high way from Bodden Town to George Town.
Then you won’t have to take land from people.
You haven’t really thought that one through have you?
These landowners should be paid a fair price for compensation without the need to go to court. My aunt’s case involved lands and survey offering four different amounts during the negotiations and court case…doubling their initial offer and then the court still assessed at a higher figure! Moral of the story do not accept lands’ first offer!
The AG needs to investigate all these land compensation claims…there are so many outstanding, over payments to Politian’s friends and family and inconsistencies to other owners! NRA need to give some figures as to how many claims are outstanding and how many have been paid out…together with time frames of when affected landowners are paid, from the date of the gazette.
Yes, rumoured extreme overpayment to acquire land adjacent to the multi purpose hall (which, sad to say, only seems available to some) on Cayman Brac. Really hope the amount and to whom is marl road nonsense
NRA need to pay an upfront part payment of the compensation to help affected owners get professional advice as soon as the land is gazetted, They also need to pay interest from the date of the gazette. That is what happens in other countries.
Google eminent domain
People should be compensated prior to the commencement of the works.
The reality is, this road is needed. How often do you read articles on this very platform, that speaks to climate changes, sea level rising, stronger storms and so on and so on. Do you people realize that the road to the eastern districts has, in more than one occasion, almost washed away during hurricanes passing close to Grand Cayman.
Do you all know that every time there is an accident people who live on that side of the island can be stuck in traffic for HOURS??? I speak from experience as an essential worker. Trust me it is no fun getting off of work late at night just to spend hours in one spot on the road waiting for the police to clear the way.
It amazes me to listen to people now cry claim they are environmentalists…when they are living on WB road or South Sound…given that these areas was once mangroves.
3:54, exactly! It is unbelievably hypocritical to hear some of these “environmentalists” who now have wealth BECAUSE of development in Cayman. Don’t even want people to have a proper road???!
Oh how quickly they forgot about the woes on WB road. How they screamed bloody murder and the world was coming to an end because the traffic was unbearable and “bad for tourism”.
Their argument against this road is thick with hypocrisy.
The road will be built.
Whichever road you are on, if there is an accident you will be stuck.
If you looked at the flood map for the island no road or piece of land is going to not be flooded or eroded as a result of storm inundation- areas will be cutoff which is why we now have two police helicopters as well as emergency response vehicles together with manpower. You also have a hospital.
The traffic will not ease if you build this road. The problems you highlight will not go away. Your journey will be more expensive. Your quality of life will not be improved.
The auditor general should also look in to this. When govt gazettes a road the owner needs to be compensated so govt owes the landowner money. Where does this liability sit on NRAs balance sheet?
Yep the law needs changing to give the landowner fair compensation in a timely manner.
Wayne we put you there to fix these problems, Parliament is supreme ! Stop making excuses. Your family land is secure I guess so no worries there
It all still comes to a bottle neck;how does this help?
It doesn’t.
Bulldozing and laying tar is not the long term solution to our national traffic problem. All that is happening here is more damage to the environment, opening up land that no body will ever afford when they get through filling the land and more pollution.
I was under the impression the premier was all for climate change and the reduction of our Caron foot print. Kind sir, please let the public know how does this benefits all and not just a few land owners?
Please show us the plan for the Woodland Drive intersection and widening of that road.
Surely the residents in that
vicinity have a say in all this?
Just like Beach Bay residents had a say about The Mandarin…
I don’t believe the NRA treats landowners fairly nor honestly. All I can say is don’t believe a word they tell you. Only believe what is put on paper and signed by all authorized individuals. Also, beware of low property valuations even by people you hire as some of the valuation experts/companies may have some type of tie-in with government or similar conflict of interest. I speak with experience on this matter.
‘some sort of tie-in with government.’
Afraid not. Keep you conspiracy theory to yourself.
ironwood development can now finally happen!!!! yeayyyy
a road to nowhere that achieves nothing regarding traffic congestion.
another day in wonderland.
Greater good no good unless we get paid!
Two things of interest-
Firstly, what wrecks land envionmentally is not the road cutting through it (provided it’s constructed sensibly as a 2-lane road with gravel shoulders, overtake zones and sufficient culverts to allow water to flow under the roadbed), but the indiscriminate clearing for development purposes, land originally ‘landlocked’ but now enjoying access to a Crown highway. Secondly, valuation of land expropriated by Crown for the ‘public’ good’ is entrusted to one Uche Obi- an career civil servant appraiser with a fearsome reputation for meanness and inflexibility who believes with religious-like fervour that Crown should never have to part with a single shilling when compensating landowners. He believes that the unlocking of land accessibility must be sufficient reward for its loss by expropriation, and that landowners should be grateful for that loss, not resentful (tsk!)
Agreed – NRA do not know how compensation works particularly this new board as they are all newbies.
Ya man he a dinosaur!
Uche has no idea what he is doing, all ego. Serious law firms need to challenge the BS that is happening
yes he does, just that he is being difficult to justify his job!
Entitled bunch. If you lived anywhere else in the world, governments take land for “eminent domain” and you get no compensation.
Belly up to tbe bar time
Name one place other than a communist or socialist country where that can happen ?! Just one !!
The United States of America
Canada, USA, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, England, France, Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Japan, Australia, India, Shal I go on? You are correct. I can’t name just one.
rubbish! principles of compensation for compulsory land take dates back to the 1860s!
sorry 1845!
It took like 6 years for my parents to get paid for the land government took. The value changed significantly in 6 years and they should have been paid the fair value then .
People should be paid in a couple months, just like the public selling land to one another.
Are you not listening to the premier? He said
“My view is a reasonable period of time is not three years; it’s not five years; it’s not 13 years, as in some cases I’ve been involved with. It’s a reasonable period of time, which is much shorter. So I can tell you that that’s the view of the government”
So now you have your answer its much shorter than 3, 5 or 13 years.
Why so quiet Ezzard? Not so much a big environmentalist now eh?
Caymanians screwing over Caymanians. Simple as that.
Non-Caymanians screwing over Caymanians.
Shhh we can’t talk about that. As always, it hurts too much and we prefer to point fingers elsewhere
Orwell’s Animal Farm. Some Caymanians are more equal than other Caymanians. Duh.
The roads failing to relieve traffic as the number of people using the new roads increases, and so they build a road through the swamp (deep peat, bad place for a road and no good for affordable housing) because that’s where someone randomly drew a line years ago is not NRA’s fault. It all reflects a lack of national planning. That is the underlying failure that the Cayman Islands Government must address. How many people, living where (and educating and working where) and the associated infrastructure. (Good luck putting a septic well in the swamp.) There are ‘good’ places to put people and facilities and then there are ‘bad’ places. And climate change is making more places ‘bad’ or at least harder to build in without planing for the proper development of the entire area (see Randyke Gardens for exhibit A). The time to plan for the future is now. CIG, lets get started.
NRA needs a complete overhaul
CIG needs a complete overhaul.
needs audiing and then disbanding
Yep. Ask anyone loving on Shamrock Road for the past 10 years!
“Panton explained that the politicians do not get involved in the mechanics of compulsory land purchases because the negotiations are conducted by civil servants”
Also Panton;
“My view is a reasonable period of time is not three years; it’s not five years; it’s not 13 years, as in some cases I’ve been involved with.”
I picked up on the same thing. This man has a gift with words, long sentences that say nothing. He tells you what it isn’t but avoids what it is.
“My view is a reasonable period of time is not three years; it’s not five years; it’s not 13 years, as in some cases I’ve been involved with. It’s a reasonable period of time, which is much shorter. So I can tell you that that’s the view of the government,”
Wayne seriously lacks substance. Peter principle.
PACT need to open a chain of Waffle Houses.
Waffle House Wayne lol
McCeeva didn’t he got his hands slapped by the then auditor general (see the AGs report) when he agreed compensation to the landowner of what is now Bobby Thompson Way! I wonder who that was?
The hint is in the name of the road.
Build that road all the way to East End yesterday
How about build a bridge too to drive your a$$ back to your country.
Fill in that swamp now!
This is 100% for land development. Nothing to do with traffic. Spend the money on the dump, or schools, or the bottlenecks at Hurley’s etc.
The road to nowhere leads to PACT.
That was I initiated by the previous government just sayin
Actually this has been on the table since the 1970’s. Back then some land owners were prepared to GIVE the land for the access it would provide. Legislators did not deem it vital to secure the route as the voters wanted money used elsewhere. So here we are 50 year’s later.
@12:42pm Seriously, you blaming PACT for something that happened during the PPM administration..PPM colors still appearing. This is like watching the January 6 proceedings. The people are finally seeing what the PPM was and still is…kinda like the orange guy to the north of us..
@11:15:
Regarding the arterial: PPM lit the fire and PACTless is carrying the torch. Both are in on it. Neither are absolved.
What applies here applies in the USA, too: party partisans are just too damned blind to see that the leaders and politicians associated with their respective parties are in it for power and mammon, not to actually carry forward the will of the people. Sad that in the next presidential election it looks like Americans will have to choose between a foggy old brain-impaired zombie and a shameless, blame-deflecting demagogue. Equally pathetic are the choices for leaders we make in this country. Is this sorry lot really the best our country has to offer? Seriously?!