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'Judge's ruling is wrong and we'll be fighting it'

Wed, Jun 9th 2021, 08:48 AM
Disputes Politics Tribune Stories

WORKS Minister Desmond Bannister criticised a Supreme Court ruling which bans the government from further demolishing shanty town structures across Abaco, saying it has set a "dangerous" precedent that has "usurped" the power of the Ministry of Works.

He also said the decision would create “open season” for anyone to illegally build on land they do not own.
#In her ruling on Monday, Supreme Court Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson ordered an extension of her injunction to include all unregulated communities in Abaco. The injunction prohibits the government from evicting shanty town residents and disconnecting services in their communities.
#She ordered the government to “cease and desist” from “any further interference” with the respective communities until the outcome of a pending judicial review and also admonished officials for moving to demolish the structures without first getting approval from the court.
#Justice Grant-Thompson’s ruling comes after the Ministry of Works spearheaded the demolition of 45 “incomplete and unoccupied structures” in The Farm shanty town in Abaco in April and followed up with further demolitions last month.
#Yesterday, Mr Bannister called the ruling “a flawed decision” and “wrong in law”.
#“The Free National Movement is a government of laws as we respect the law and insofar as that decision represents the law right now we’re going to follow it, but I just want y’all to think in a democracy you are entitled to criticise decisions,” he said.
#“In my view, it is a flawed decision. It is wrong in law. It is wrong and we expect that we will have it overturned and I’ll tell you why. There were two injunctions in place. The first injunction prohibited the government from demolishing shanty towns and buildings and structures, etc. The second injunction stopped people from building those structures. Every one of those buildings that we were demolishing on The Farm was built contrary to the court’s injunction.
#“. . . You have a judge who has made the decision, and I want y’all to understand how dangerous this is for the country right now, that we can’t demolish these structures unless we go to her. What that has done is, she has usurped the statutory powers of the building control officers in the Ministry of Works. She has usurped the statutory powers of officers throughout the various ministries in the country and the judge is now determining whether they could carry out their duties in accordance with the law—that has to be wrong.

He also said the decision would create “open season” for anyone to illegally build on land they do not own.

In her ruling on Monday, Supreme Court Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson ordered an extension of her injunction to include all unregulated communities in Abaco. The injunction prohibits the government from evicting shanty town residents and disconnecting services in their communities.

She ordered the government to “cease and desist” from “any further interference” with the respective communities until the outcome of a pending judicial review and also admonished officials for moving to demolish the structures without first getting approval from the court.

Justice Grant-Thompson’s ruling comes after the Ministry of Works spearheaded the demolition of 45 “incomplete and unoccupied structures” in The Farm shanty town in Abaco in April and followed up with further demolitions last month.

Yesterday, Mr Bannister called the ruling “a flawed decision” and “wrong in law”.

“The Free National Movement is a government of laws as we respect the law and insofar as that decision represents the law right now we’re going to follow it, but I just want y’all to think in a democracy you are entitled to criticise decisions,” he said.

“In my view, it is a flawed decision. It is wrong in law. It is wrong and we expect that we will have it overturned and I’ll tell you why. There were two injunctions in place. The first injunction prohibited the government from demolishing shanty towns and buildings and structures, etc. The second injunction stopped people from building those structures. Every one of those buildings that we were demolishing on The Farm was built contrary to the court’s injunction.

“. . . You have a judge who has made the decision, and I want y’all to understand how dangerous this is for the country right now, that we can’t demolish these structures unless we go to her. What that has done is, she has usurped the statutory powers of the building control officers in the Ministry of Works. She has usurped the statutory powers of officers throughout the various ministries in the country and the judge is now determining whether they could carry out their duties in accordance with the law—that has to be wrong.

 

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