WASA loses Westmoorings land case

The dispute centres around an area of land located opposite West Mall in Westmoorings.

WASA claims that there were wells underneath it since 1922.

In dismissing the appeal, the appellate judges — acting Chief Justice Allan Mendonca, and Justices of Appeal Rajendra Narine and Gregory Smith — held that the land had never been vested in WASA but was owned by the City Corporation.

The dispute had come to an ugly standoff involving the use of armed guards in 2011 after WASA attempted to assert ownership rights to the land.

WASA was represented by Seenath Jairam SC and Larry Lalla, instructed by Nyree Alphonso. The City Corporation was represented by John Jeremie SC and Kerwyn Garcia.

In an immediate response, Port-of-Spain Mayor Raymond Tim Kee expressed his satisfaction at the successful outcome of this matter.

WASA had challenged Justice Carol Gobin’s ruling in favour of the Corporation. Gobin held that the disputed land had been in the continuous and undisturbed possession of the corporation since the 1980s and, as such, the entry by WASA on the lands in, or about 2010 was illegal.

WASA had filed a lawsuit in October, 2011, against former Port-of-Spain Mayor Louis Lee Sing and others, claiming that the land, which it calls the Cocorite Farrell Well Fields has artesan wells which, at their peak, produced two million gallons of water per day.

WASA said the land was vested in the Authority according to Section 11 of the WASA Act of 1965, and the wells were first brought into operation in 1922. The Authority said it sought, in 2010, to reactivate the Cocorite Farrell Well Fields and the Water Resources Agency has been monitoring the ground water to determine the salt and fresh-water levels there.

The Port-of-Spain City Corporation contended that the land belonged to the City of Port-of-Spain.

The City Corporation was seeking to turn the area into a “green space” and children’s play park which would include a volleyball court, tennis courts, rugby field, other playing fields, and a pavilion.