State Loses Duck Run Land Fight, Damages Now Ahead

The government has lost its appeal in a major national lands case involving more than nineteen hundred acres in the Duck Run area. The Court of Appeal has dismissed the case brought by the Minister of Natural Resources, Petroleum and Mining and the Attorney General against Fowler Works Enterprises Limited. The dispute dates back to 2020, when Fowler Works entered into four agreements to buy national lands for a large-scale sustainable farming and homestead project. The company paid the full purchase price of just over two hundred and sixty-six thousand dollars, but after the change of government later that year, the state refused to complete the sale by transferring the titles. The state argued that the agreements were illegal and unenforceable, including because one parcel exceeded five hundred acres and had not received approval by resolution of the National Assembly. But the court found that while the state failed to follow that requirement, the failure did not make the contract void. In plain terms, the court said the government cannot rely on its own breach to walk away from the deal. The court also rejected the argument that the smaller parcels breached internal land policies, finding that Fowler Works had complied with the process. In the end, the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s ruling that all four agreements were valid, that the state breached them, and that the matter must now return to the High Court for damages to be assessed. Fowler Works Enterprises was represented by Senior Counsel Dean Barrow and attorney Agassi Finnegan.

 

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