THE Privy Council has ruled in favour of former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley, overturning a decision by the Court of Appeal in a 16-year legal wrangling over land at the Alma Estate in Tobago.

The case began in 2009 when Christo and Jocelyn Gift sued Rowley and Marcelle Latour, the daughter of the late landowner Frank Latour. The Gifts claimed that a 1998 agreement they signed with Marcelle included a large portion of land that Rowley said had already been promised to him back in 1975.

At the centre of the dispute was how much land Rowley had agreed to buy. The Gifts said it was 56.5 acres, based on an old survey. Rowley argued that the land was actually 85.6 acres, as shown in a new survey done in 2009.