High Court denies Club Pigeon Point

HIGH COURT Judge Joseph Tam yesterday refused to grant an injunction to Club Pigeon Point to stop the Tobago House of Assembly from compulsory acquisition of 60 acres of beach front property in Tobago. Following the decision the judge informed both parties that the matter would be heard on September 29. The decision came after lengthy submissions presented to the court by State attorney Dr Lloyd Barnett QC and Club Pigeon Point’s attorney Dr Fenton Ramsahoye over a three-week period. In presenting his judgment in the Port-of-Spain Fifth Civil Court yesterday, Justice Tam noted that there were two possible decisions that could have been made. He explained that the court could have granted an injunction, which would have blocked the State from making any attempts to acquire the lands, or grant a conservatory order, which would preserve the property. However, he pointed out that the court could not grant any of those judgments since there was no evidence that the State had either made an application for acquisition of the land or that they had intended to destroy, resurface or reorganise any part of the land.

He also noted that the decision made by Robinson Crusoe Limited, operator of Club Pigeon Point and subsidiary of ANSA McAL, to file the constitutional motion was based only on published statements made by the Prime Minister and the Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly that the State had intentions of acquiring the land. He said no evidence was presented by the operators of the Club to show that the State had filed for or was about to file for acquisition of the land. Dr Ramsahoye said that he could not say if his client would appeal the judgment presented by the court since he had to consult  them first. However, he noted that this was a case which had guaranteed rights of appeal. Asked if he was surprised by the judgment, Dr Ramsahoye stated that he is “never surprised with court. The justice system does not work that way.” Dr Ramsahoye and Rikki Harnanan instructed by Adrian Byrne appeared in the matter for Club Pigeon Point, while Dr Barnett, Karen Fournillier, Terrance Thorne and John Jeremie, instructed by Rohana Hosein, appeared for the State.