Peake’s locked out over rent dispute

Years of wrangling led to a lock out yesterday as the Chaguaramas Development Authority (CDA) blocked Peake Yacht Services (PYS) officials from entering their compound.

Paul Peake, of Peake Yacht Services said the lockout was an attempt to embarrass the company. “It is an illegal, high handed approach by the CDA,” he said. At issue is a dispute over rent increases which has been going on for at least three years. While the company has been paying rent it has refused to pay the increased rate set by the CDA. The CDA has increased rent in a number of its lots but other companies have been paying the higher price. The dispute with PYS is over two of the five blocks which make up the PYS compound but access was denied to the whole property yesterday.

CDA chairman Renrick Nickie said yesterday’s action was supposed to bring Peake Yacht Services to the table. “At the end of the day we thought it was our only option,” he said. The barriers were removed at around 2 pm but Nickie said if the matter is not resolved, the CDA will seek an injunction against the company. Peake said the CDA had increased the rent on other properties but his company was facing the biggest hike.

In response, Nickie said the company has refused to pay the new rate. PYS agreed to a valuation of the property but did not agree with the amount the valuators submitted. “They feel they can set the rent,” Nickie said. The CDA sent a letter to PYS officials last week informing them that if they did not start paying the revised rent, they would be locked out. Neither side would say what the rent on the property was or how much the increase was. Nickie would only say that the new rent is below current values. Nickie also said while other companies have agreed to pay the rent the board has met with some resistance. “We need the private companies to develop the properties properly but you can’t tell the valuator how to do the valuation on the property,” he said. Nickie stated: “People got accustomed to not paying rent. You review and they take you through the hoops. It’s an attitude the new board feels is prevalent in Chaguaramas.”