Last week Saturday, gunshots were fired to stop workmen from hauling down the fence at the Fort Street Tourism Village. In the week since then, tempers have cooled somewhat and reason has tempered resolve.
Today both parties went to the Supreme Court to settle the matter. Government has beefed up its legal team, retaining not one, but two Private attorneys to assist legal counsel for the department of the environment Nicola Cho. Those private attorneys are Fred Lumor and Samira Musa-Pott.
Appearing on the other side of the table for the Fort Street Tourism Village was Dean Barrow.
And while both sides were ready to argue, Justice Troadio Gonzalez told them he was transferring the matter to Justice Awich's court, and it will commence on December 6th..
Until that case is heard, Lumor gave his undertaking that the Department of the Environment will not interfere with the fence.
But when the case does start, it promises to be a battle of heavyweights, as both lead attorneys have ample background in the matter.
In 2003, Barrow won a landmark case for Brian Brown whose fence was demolished by the police without) A court order. Barrow proved that it was illegal and government had to pay Brown damages of $20,000.
For his part, Lumor has challenged the Village's boardwalk exclusivity previously, and won out when he represented the Wet Lizard in 2003.
So with proven records of success, both attorneys were confident when we spoke with them today
Dean Barrow, SC, Attorney for FSTV
Those two fences remain in place until after the full judgment of the court over whether Government can properly give any order for the removal of those fences without violating its contractual warranties that it made to the current owners of the village at the time they were being induced to buy over the investment.
The Fort Street Tourism Village has been shafted from the start. They were first given an exclusive when they bought over form Mike Feinstein - and shortly thereafter Government gave a second exclusive to Carnival. Secondly, they were told until Carnival starts up no one else in the area will have the ability to sell duty free merchandise. The government turned right around and gave that concession to Michael Colin gallery and to Margaret Musa who then sublet to Goodmark Jewelers. So that is a second basis on which the Tourism Village can say this Government is not serious about keeping its word. And now this, where the government comes and says that you have to remove fences that are already the subject of an earlier action, which we warranted to you were properly in place!
Fred Lumor, Attorney for Harbor View Restaurant
Let's even say for purposes of argument, can the government sign a contract with the Village to perform the construction of the boardwalk and discriminate against the Harbor View? The constitution does not allow for that. We will argue that and you are going to see that the village itself has acquiesced in the Minister of Natural Resources giving a license to the Belize City Council to construct the boardwalk from the fort point down to the southside, past Government House to enable tourists walking along the boardwalk to enjoy the view of the Belize River.
Jules Vasquez, 7News
What do you make of the government's eagerness to tear down this fence?
Dean Barrow, SC, Attorney for FSTV
Well clearly this has to do with the Brown Sugar development and the connections of the lead principal, Mr. Billy Musa, who is the Prime Minister's bother. The idea is that if you move the fence at the Harbor View end of the boardwalk, you can then move the fence at the Brown Sugar end of the boardwalk, this would then facilitate the Brown Sugar development.
Fred Lumor, Attorney for Harbor View
Maybe the issue of Brown Sugar falls within the jurisdiction of the City Council to build a boardwalk and it is a condition of that license that there will be no gate, no obstruction on the boardwalk and the public will have full access to the boardwalk,.
Lumour says there are three cases on this matter pending before the court, and he will seek to consolidate all of them in the December hearing.