MARIGOT--The Administrative Court recently, on June 15, rejected the Préfet of Guadeloupe’s request to cancel the November 20, 2016, Executive Council decision to purchase land from the Laurence family for the Grand Case runway extension for 80 euros per square metre.
The Préfecture argued the Collectivité in its financial difficulties could not afford the 6,595,760 euro price tag for the 82,447 square metres of land, insisting the price was “excessive” and it would be paying 2.5 million euros too much.
Negotiations with the Laurence family over the parcel of land to extend the runway have been going on for years and frequently ended in deadlock.
The Public Rapporteur, however, said the extension is “in the public interest” and there was no error in the appreciation of the price. He indicated in 2011 the Collectivité had set the purchase price at between 100 and 107 euros per square metre while France Domaine in 2016 evaluated the price at 50 euros per square metre.
He said the Collectivité had been justified in finding a middle ground to propose a price of 80 euros so the seller would not be under sold.
President Daniel Gibbs has described this purchase as an “absolute priority” and “logical” in terms of the airport’s development.
A Laurence family member told The Daily Herald Sunday she could not say whether the sale will go ahead, adding the family is “still in limbo” and waiting for advice from their lawyer.
