Payment of compensation, etc

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, all amounts which have been awarded by way of compensation under this Act, including interest and costs to be paid by the Financial Secretary, and all other costs, charges and expenses which shall be incurred under the authority of this Act, shall be a charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund of Belize and shall be paid within such time as the Court considers reasonable in all the circumstances. (2) The Financial Secretary shall be entitled to deduct from any compensation which may have been awarded such sums as are due to the Government as arrears of any taxes, duties and charges, and all other sums whatsoever, which are owed to the Government by the person entitled to compensation. (3) Where the exigencies of the public finance do not allow the immediate payment to the claimant of the compensation awarded by the Court, the Attorney General, representing the Minister of Finance, may apply to the Court for approval of a schedule of payments by instalments, provided that any such amortisation schedule shall not exceed a period of five years unless the claimant agrees. (4) The compensation determined by the Court may be paid either in a sum of money or, subject to the approval of the Court, by issue of Treasury Notes in the manner provided in sub- section (5). 63 (5) Subject as aforesaid, the compensation may be paid by the issue to the claimant of one or more Treasury Notes to an amount equal to the amount of the compensation, and any Treasury Note so issued shall– (a) be redeemable within a period not exceeding five years from the date of the issue; (b) bear interest at the rate paid by the commercial banks in Belize on fixed deposits at the date of the acquisition; and CAP. 83. (c) subject to paragraphs (a) and (b), be governed by the provisions of the Treasury Bills Act. (6) Subject to the foregoing provisions, the Court shall have power to order the Minister responsible for Finance to take all necessary steps to procure the payment of compensation to the claimant in the manner approved by the Court and the Court may make all necessary and consequential orders to enforce the claimant’s right to all such compensation. (7) Nothing in the foregoing provisions shall preclude the claimant and the Financial Secretary from mutually agreeing to a different manner of payment of compensation, including, but not limited to the conveyance to the claimant of land or other property f equivalent value, or the offsetting of compensation or part thereof against any future tax liability of the claimant, and in any such case, the Court may make a consent order to effectuate the agreement between the parties.