Owners of land and occupiers of property that have to be acquired by the government to facilitate construction of the Long Hill by pass in St. James are being assured that they will be compensated.

The matter was raised during a community consultation meeting for the Long Hill bypass, at the Mount Carey Baptist Church on Thursday.

The meeting was hosted by the National Road Operating and Constructing Company limited (NROCC).

The Long Hill bypass is a sub-project of the Montego Bay perimeter road project.

It will be a 10.5 km four lane highway leading from Montpelier to Temple Gallery road at Bogue.

Work on the Montpelier section of the bypass was expected to begin today.

NROCC’s environmental manager Errol Mortley explained that persons who have titles for affected land will be compensated much quicker, because the acquisition process is fairly straightforward.

Mr. Mortley noted that the process is a bit different for persons who do not have titles such as for family land.

For instance, if they occupy a house on land that they do not own, they will be compensated for the house but not the land.

If they are farmers, they will be compensated for their produce as well as given time to reap the crops.

As it relates to informal settlers, or squatters, that issue will also be addressed with consideration for what they will lose.