It is a case that has had more twists and turns than an amusement park ride – but no one was laughing at the close of proceedings today in the Supreme Court, save perhaps counsel for Bedeco Limited/Brown Sugar Marketplace and Maritime Estates/Eurocaribe Shipping/Harbour View Restaurant and Michael Colin Galleries, senior counsel Fred Lumor.
Lumor successfully got Chief Justice Dr. Abdulai Conteh to force an undertaking from the operations manager of Fort Street Tourism Village Limited, James Nisbet, and its chief security officer, Michael Mulligan, to repair the parts of the boardwalk Fort Street’s workmen broke up and removed since the ruling of April 23, 2008, within ten days from today – by May 25 – or face possible contempt proceedings.
Lumor further alleges that they did this under the watchful eye of representatives of the Port Authority. The substantive matter has been adjourned to May 30.
At 10:00 a.m., Lumor began proceedings against Attorney General Wilfred Elrington, the Government of Belize in the person of Deputy Prime Minister and Natural Resources Minister, Hon. Gaspar Vega, the Belize Port Authority represented by Kenrick Daly and Andrew Coc, and Fort Street Tourism Village. The case against the government had actually begun during the previous Said Musa PUP administration, and the UDP, as the new government, inherited the case.
Appearing for the latter respectively, were Solicitor General Tanya Longsworth-Herwanger and crown counsel Andrea McSweaney-McKoy, and Rodwell Williams. A.G. Elrington, Minister Vega and Ports Commissioner Major (ret) Lloyd Jones were all out of the country on business and did not appear at today’s hearing, a situation the Chief Justice decried at the start of today’s proceedings when he directed Solicitor General Longsworth-Herwanger to inform her political bosses to respect the Court’s summonses to cases by appearing on time and not making excuses.
Lumor briefly outlined for the court the circumstances leading them back to the Chief Justice’s chambers, specifically, that the defendants were in contempt of the CJ’s March 11 ruling to take down all obstructions on the boardwalk.
In reality, Lumor argued, after several reminders and two more court appearances, the latest on April 22 and 23 before Justice John Muria in the Court of Appeal, in which their pleas for a stay were rejected, Fort Street proceeded to not only take down the walls, but also continue to deny his clients access to the boardwalk by breaking the boardwalk itself on Fort Street’s side of the property – a case of “cutting off your nose to spite your face.” He tendered photographs of the destruction of the boardwalk on April 23 and 24, whereupon the Chief Justice directed a short adjournment so he could visit the site and see what it looked like now.
Today’s tour was the first time Amandala had visited the site since the Muria ruling on April 23, and the subsequent reports of the broken boardwalk on the morning of April 24, profiled in the front-page story “Spiteful Fort Street Tourism Village?” in the Sunday, April 27, 2008 issue. The walls were completely down at either end, as well as the buildings accompanying them, but high, retractable gates had replaced them. The boardwalk had been successfully broken at either end, denying access to the claimants as argued in court by Lumor.
Overheard today were questions the C.J. directed at Nisbet and Mulligan, as well as counsel Rodwell Williams, concerning how tourists using the Village could access either Harbour View or Brown Sugar from the boardwalk with such gaping holes obstructing their passage. None of Fort Street’s principals, reports say, could answer positively.
Today was a bustling cruise ship day for the Village, and while the tourists appeared to take no notice of the sea of black strolling down North Front Street into Fort Street around 11:30 a.m. today, some Belizean businessmen and women operating in the Village raised their voices in support of Brown Sugar and Harbour View.
All sides returned to court just after noon, with the Chief Justice asking counsel to meet with him in chambers. While the media waited, we briefly got the opinions of Brown Sugar operations manager Christian Riverol and Harbour View’s Michelle Williams, as well as one of Brown Sugar’s investors, who confided to us that Fort Street appeared scared of the up-and-coming development in the Port Loyola area that threatened to take away customers, and needed a strong showing here. Riverol told Amandala he was not worried about the publicity the case might engender from the tourists in the Village, who might get wind of what was going on.
But the Village did not get what they had hoped for, as by 1:00 p.m. Dr. Conteh told the court that after negotiations in his chambers, Nisbet and Mulligan had agreed to replace the boardwalk within 10 days and remove all other obstructions blocking access by Brown Sugar and Harbour View, specifically, the retractable gates.
In Lumor’s opinion, Nisbet and Mulligan only narrowly escaped being sent to jail today for violating the decision of the court, a “grave” error in the eyes of the C.J., but he, Lumor, noted that prison is generally the last resort a court uses to enforce a decision.
The C.J. concluded today’s proceedings by expressing his wish that “good sense” would prevail and that the litigants would work together, a sentiment echoed by Lumor when we spoke with him immediately after the verdict.
Lumor told us that the agreement was made without “acrimony,” and by consensus, and that everyone spoke frankly and honestly about his or her concerns. But he is equally sure he has not seen the back end of this case as yet.
And apparently, he hasn’t, as minutes later, attorney for FSTV Rodwell Williams informed us that his clients are ready to file an appeal against the March 11 ruling, scheduled for June 2 in the Court of Appeal, although from all indications, they will comply with today’s judgment. Nisbet and Mulligan offered no comment to Amandala as they left the courtroom. Williams would not elaborate, saying only that Fort Street’s side has not yet been heard.
The roller coaster ride, therefore, continues.