Guard booth war at MovieTowne

PATT had given MovieTowne until 2 pm yesterday to demolish the guard booth which stands on a road reserve owned by the authority. But the intervention of Minister of Works and Transport Colm Imbert averted an ugly incident, which, according to MovieTowne owner Derek Chin, "would have ended up in the courthouse."

Yesterday, Chin admitted to Newsday that the road reserve is owned by PATT, but he developed it when MovieTowne was constructed several years ago. "We constructed that road, paved it and have it where it is today," Chin added.

He said the road serves the entrance to MovieTowne, Pricesmart and all the shops associated with the entertainment cineplex. Before a guard booth was erected, Chin said there was a problem which affected the entire compound.

"Suspicious vehicles used to go to the back of Pricesmart and the next thing we knew was that vehicles parked on the compound were interfered with. There was also a problem with drug pushing. Suspicious cars were going to the back and down to the sea front, and trucks were dumping rubbish on a regular basis. They were becoming a nuisance, so we decided to erect the booth to restrict the flow of traffic.

"You must remember, I have an investment to protect and this place cost a lot of money. I did not want problems coming up where tenants were going to complain about the dust and noise from these vehicles," Chin added.

To the east of the entertainment cineplex is a large parcel of land owned by the PATT and which was previously leased to businessman William Munroe to house Spectrum, a venue for hosting fetes. The area is now being used to store large containers after Government started its waterfront beautification project.

Chin said MovieTowne constructed a guard booth and placed a barrier across the road to prevent the abuse of the road, but must have angered someone, he added, saying that the PATT wanted the booth removed. That was eight months ago.

Chin said he met with Port Chairman Noel Garcia and ministers of Government. "I think that we are big men and we can settle this problem amicably. Eventually, we reached an agreement whereby the trucks would use the road between 6 am and 6 pm Monday to Friday. The next thing I knew was that the trucks were coming in on Sundays when MovieTowne was packed with people including a lot of children. I had to protect my investment and the lives of the people who visited my premises."

Chin said there is an entrance to the Spectrum area at the end of Wrightson Road which the trucks could use. Last Friday, he said he received a letter from the PATT giving him a deadline of 2 pm yesterday to remove the guard booth.

As a result, Chin said he consulted his attorneys who remained on standby to go to court for an injunction if the PATT moved on his booth. He also spoke with Imbert, who he said intervened in the matter over the weekend.

Around midday yesterday, he received a letter from the PATT "holding its hand" from demolishing the guard booth. Chin said attorneys on both sides will now sit down and try to reach an agreement on the matter.

He said the minister even recommended that the PATT construct a road in another area for the heavy-duty trucks. "This is just a temporary solution. We have to sit down and reach a proper solution. I think we are big enough to do so."