ABSTRACT
Compulsory acquisition is a sociolegal phenomenon that affects individuals with property rights across the globe. In the Caribbean, it is governed by the Land Acquisition Act for individual island states. The Trinidadian legislation enables highway authorities, municipal and statutory corporations and private entities or individuals to expropriate lands, in accordance with the requirements outlined in the Acquisition in Special Cases Schedule in the Act. The Jamaican government acquired 14 parcels of land in Charlemont, St. Catherine, for the construction of the North-South Link of Highway 2000. The statutes of the Eastern Caribbean Territories and Jamaica confirm that open market value is the basis of compensation. When compensation has been delayed by so many years, the value of a landowner's compensation erodes over time. The economic analysis suggests that all the costs associated with the negative externalities faced by landowners are not absorbed by the purchaser.
