Man and dog evicted from Bretton Hall

One man and his dog were left literally in the pouring rain yesterday after being evicted from his apartment at the rear of the compound of Bretton Hall, Victoria Avenue, Port-of-Spain.

The apartment block was then demolished by workmen. The block was wrecked to make way for a new six-storey office block for which the grounds have already been excavated and steel rods laid for the foundation. Displaced resident, Joe Texeira, bemoaned his eviction as the last tenant, claiming the landowner, Mark Poon Tip, had breached due legal process although Poon Tip had a different version of events. Texeira said: “I’ve been living in the apartment for 14 years since September 1989 and I registered with the Rent Assessment Board in October 1989. On 19 March in the Second Magistrate Court, Justice Andrew Stroude dismissed the case against me (a case allegedly brought by Poon Tip to evict him).”

Texeira said that since then, Poon Tip had twice refused to accept rent payments from him and that events had culminated in yesterday’s eviction. He lamented that the workmen had also turned his small pet dog, which he had locked in his bedroom, loose into the pouring rain.  Texeira said he came home yesterday to see 20 or 30 men breaking down his apartment. He claims they went through his household possessions and personal effects. “They were breaking down my home in the presence of Mr Poon Tip who has known me for 14 years. A gentleman claiming to be a bailiff was also there but I was never served. What was done today was totally illegal. I now have nowhere to live.” But Mark Poon Tip disputed the tenant’s viewpoint.

Poon Tip said: “He wasn’t unlawfully evicted. There was a certified bailiff and four police officers present. In fact, he had called the police who came and saw what was happening and then left. He had received a notice of eviction and was supposed to be out by the end of July. We made every effort to find alternative accommodation for him but he refused the offers we made to him. The company had no choice but to take the action it did yesterday.” He assured the company had been very careful with Texeira’s possessions and regretted that the matter had to be resolved by the eviction.

Poon Tip said that he and not Texeira had won the court case. “The magistrate ruled in our favour the right to recover the premises and said the company did everything to find him alternative accommodation. But the court also said that by accepting rent payments afterwards, we had started a new tenancy and would have to serve notice again.” Poon Tip said his company had lawfully again served Texeira with written notice of eviction, leading to yesterday’s events. He added: “We secured a two-bedroom apartment for him for six months until he finds another place and we’ve paid the rent for six months. We had also made him an offer (of a lump sum payment to quit) equivalent to 16 years of the rent of what he is paying now. He is being very unreasonable. The place is still available and our offer stands.”