Nigel Hughes condemns City Council for ‘Dread Shop’ demolition
The Mayor and City Council has moved to demolish shops in the Stabroek Market area, but attorney at law Nigel Hughes has condemned the action as being unlawful since the matter is engaging the attention of the court.
‘How can you breach an order of the Court of Appeal – which states that the matter was set to go to court for mediation – and come and destroy a building in total, and show complete disrespect and disregard for the court of Appeal,” Hughes said, adding that the Town Clerk is saying by his actions that he has no regard for the rule of law.
“This means the citizens are not protected by the law, because those who are responsible for enforcing, have clearly intended to disregard it,” he chided.
Hughes is representing 73-year-old Anthony Forde called “Rasta Man” who is the owner of the “Dread Shop” that was located in proximity to Stabroek Market, and next to the Island Snackette and Pizzeria since 1968. The general area is referred to as “Lucky Square”
The building was yesterday torn apart by ranks of the city constabulary around 3 am, reportedly without notice.
Hughes said to members of the media yesterday that he spoke to the Town Clerk who confirmed that this was the action of the city council.
He stated that there is currently a dispute between the Ministry of Public Infrastructure and the Mayor and City Council as to who really owns the plot of land. The matter was in court long before Guyana gained Independence, to ascertain who owns the property.
Hughes disclosed his clients were always paying taxes to the Council and not the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, who believe that they are the owners of the land.
However the lawyer said that his clients were regularly attending court in relation to the matter, under the instruction of the Court of Appeal, but the ministry failed to turn up for mediation. Hughes said he was made aware by the City Engineer that the city council was responsible for the demolition, however he indicated that “once the Court of Appeal has conduct in a matter, nobody can seek to pervert or interfere with the actions of the Court of Appeal, who ordered mediation in this matter, and the Attorney General’s Chambers having accepted it. So the town council does not have any jurisdiction to cut across or override the Court of Appeal since they are subject to the Court of Appeal.”
The lawyer said he has asked the owner of the shop to assess the damage that he has suffered “because we intend to have the government to pay immediate compensation for all he has lost.”
The owner, Anthony Forde, who is solely dependent on rent from the building, told members of the media that he has not only lost a historic landmark in his life, but well over $1M in financial losses. A cousin of Forde told members of the media that he was there when the ranks came and did not allow them to remove their items out of the building. He told Kaieteur News that freezers, tables, a pool table and television sets were among the many items destroyed by the ranks.
“All dem doing is taking food outta people dem mouth! No notice …no time, no nothing, everything just up and gone.”
The City Council is also looking to demolish the building next door, Island Snackette, owned by Elva Hawker, since it shares the plot of land. The woman’s daughter, Abiola Fung, said the business has been in the family for generations. She recalled growing up with her mother who went to the Council many years ago to submit a plan to have the business established.
Fung said that her mother started out with a small stall on the square selling food until she erected the building years later. She said she wonders why the Government is now claiming the land, when they had been paying taxes to the Council for over 50 years. She said it was business as usual until she got the call in the morning that her neighbour and friend for many years had lost his entire business to the City Council and they were gunning for hers next, with or without objections.
The woman said when she asked for some time to remove her items she was refused by the council.