The government of Antigua & Barbuda might not have to cough up a large sum of money to reacquire two parcels of Stanford-owned land near VC Bird International Airport.
The Daily OBSERVER understands from reliable government sources that the cash-strapped administration has agreed in principle with the Stanford Development Company (SDC) to take over its debt to APUA in exchange for immediate title ownership of the six acres in question.
Assurances also came from government sources that the reacquisition process is not currently delaying the construction of the new airport terminal.
Chairman of the Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA) Clarvis Joseph also gave assurances that the statutory corporation would cooperate with attempts to reacquire the lands.
“Bearing in mind that both of the parties have difficulty finding money right now, we will accommodate it because it’s the airport building and if that is going to hold up the airport construction by who has and who doesn’t have money, then (we will) facilitate it,” Joseph said.
He noted the statutory corporation has a court order against SDC that requires the Stanford-owned company to settle a debt of close to .4 million by February 6, 2012.
“SDC was sued by APUA for monies that they owed. We have a judgement on that and there is a proposal that they sell the lands to the government and they have said they would like the proceeds of any sale to accrue to APUA,” Joseph said.
“APUA is not indisposed to accommodate that. The question is whether the government and Stanford can agree on that,” Joseph added.
According to the APUA chairman, order is tied to the same two SDC-owned lands that the government wishes to acquire. And he said should SDC fail to settle the debt by the deadline, APUA would be in a position to acquire the lands in order to settle the debt.
The government and SDC are hoping to seal an agreement that would see the government take over the debt in exchange for the land before the February deadline. The first step for the government though would be agreeing on a valuation of the land with SDC.
“If the value of the lands that they arrive at is lower than the debt they owe to APUA, then they would have to pay us the additional amount direct. If the value is more than, then the government would have to pay them the difference. APUA has no problem with that proposition,” Joseph said.
Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer said in his New Year’s address that he has instructed Acting Chairman of the Airport Authority Gatesworth James to negotiate on a price of the land. However James refused to comment on the situation. Meanwhile attempts to contact SDC’s legal representative Hugh Marshall Jr proved unsuccessful.
