Club Oba court battle heats up

Residents of the towers at Western Main Road, Cocorite, are trying to prevent Senior Magistrate Lianne Lee Kim from granting a licence to the open air bar, which is in close proximity to their apartments.

The club is owned by Joe Pires and Everard Carter of Econo-Car Rentals Ltd.

The main problem, the residents claim, is the noise coming from the bar which they fear will increase as Carnival approaches.

With attorney Deborah Peake SC leading her, Ramkerrysingh was preparing to read a long list of e-mails between Pires and herself about the problem.

However, attorney Keith Scotland, representing Pires, shot up and shouted that the e-mails were inadmissible as evidence, and constituted hearsay.

A clearly frustrated Peake, however, said with the "toing and froing" between Scotland and herself, the matter will continue until the end of the week.

Ramkerrysingh was allowed to continue to read the e-mails, one of which stated that the noise from Oba was so loud that she had difficulty making an important business call to Australia.

Delving into various legal laws and acts, however, Scotland objected several times saying that the e-mails offend the rules of evidence.

He objected when Ramkerrysingh attempted to submit letters she wrote to the St James police and the chairman of Bayside Towers about the noise from Club Oba.

One letter Scotland did not object to, however, was written by the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) to Ramkerrysingh.

The reply letter stated that the Environmental Police Unit tested the noise level coming from Club Oba from her Bayside Towers apartment and found it to be within the regulated standards. But when Peake informed Lee Kim that she had building and sanitary inspectors from the Health Ministry waiting to come in as witnesses, Scotland exploded and began a discourse on the "abuse of might."

"I want to know under what auspices the Ministry of Health is sending these servants of the State here?" he boomed.

At that point Pires, who had been sitting in the courtroom, joined Scotland at the bar table to better instruct him.

Scotland then cross-examined Ramkerrysingh and asked her if she was prone to exaggeration and abuse of office.

In her letter to the police, the Bayside Towers resident said that since Club Oba had opened she had to endure excessive noise every Friday and Saturday night, and on several Sundays. However, she was unable to say exactly how many Sundays, public holidays, Fridays and Saturdays the noise from Club Oba had disturbed her.