THE Government has made the $370-million interim payment to lawyers representing the National Transport Co-operative Society (NTCS) in keeping with an order by the Court of Appeal last December.

The court made the ruling at the same time it gave permission for the Government to return to the United Kingdom-based Privy Council to challenge the methods used to calculate the $1.8 billion in damages to the NTCS for breach of contract.

But even as the payment is made, Patrick Bailey — the attorney representing the NTCS — said his clients are hoping that the Government will come to the bargaining table to negotiate a settlement.

"My clients, even at this eleventh hour, are prepared to consider an out-of-court settlement so that this long-standing litigation may come to an end so that some of them may enjoy the fruits of their labour while they are still alive," Bailey told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

Bailey was apparently making reference to late NTCS head Ezroy Millwood, who died at his home in St Andrew late last year after putting up a brave fight with the Government.

The money was to be paid by February 7, according to the appellate court's ruling. The clients will not be able to use the money, which has been deposited in the account of the law firm Bailey Terrelonge Allen, until after the case has ended.

The Government and the NTCS have been locked in a bitter dispute for more than a decade, following a decision to end the sub-franchise agreement between the bus company and the State-owned Jamaica Urban Transit Company.

In 2009, the Privy Council made a determination as to how payments to Millwood should be calculated.

Last September, the Court of Appeal ruled that the Government should pay $1.8 billion, plus interest at three per cent, to the NTCS. As a result, the Government again applied to the Court of Appeal to take the matter to the Privy Council.