Despite stating in Parliament earlier that he would not mention the names of those who had been awarded plots of new land created by filling in Great Salt Pond for the construction of the Ring Road, Minister of Infrastructure Theo Heyliger did the right thing by releasing them in the end (see related article). After all, common sense dictates that if there was no favouritism and everything went by the book, there is also nothing to hide, and such information should in any case be public record.

It must be said: for the most part it indeed involves non-profit organisations working on behalf of the community, but there are also three companies and two individuals. It would be interesting to know based on exactly what criteria the latter qualified or even were given preference to obtain land ranging from 950 to 1,000 square metres.

This issue is all the more intriguing because at one point it was stated in the media that certain parties had filed requests for parcels long ago and therefore had first rights. This begged the question how people could possibly apply for land that did not yet exist and that nobody was supposed to know would exist in the future.

Then again, the local government has allowed for decades the filling in of ponds and lagoons on the island to create land and where there was no such permission many went ahead and did it anyway. However, some may wonder whether a request for land, say, in Great Bay where there is now sea would be recognised should that ever be filled in as well.

It was mentioned that in certain areas along Illidge Road existing property owners also were allotted small pieces of land. It stands to reason that this was done mostly out of practical considerations, although some might still see it as privileging the persons involved.

All in all, however, by being open about it, the minister created the impression there was no hanky-panky in any case on his part, putting to rest some of the concerns in this regard within society. One would need more details to be sure, but at least he contributed to some much-desired openness and transparency in government.