28 days ago – the Chief Justice declared that the walls at the Fort Street Tourism Village had to come down – but almost a month later, they’re still there. And that’s why the Supreme Court had a rare hearing on Saturday morning: to decide whether it should grant a stay on the decision to bring down the walls. Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh refused to grant that stay and advised Fort Street’s attorneys that they would have to get it from the Court of Appeals.
And so now, Fred Lumour the attorney for Brown Sugar Market Place and the Harbor View has written to Fort Street’s attorneys, Rodwell Williams and Godfrey Smith advising them that he will initiate contempt of court proceedings against them. As of this evening, Lumour has backed off from that position if only slightly – saying that Fort Street has asked for the reprieve of a few days so as not to disrupt cruise ship arrivals scheduled for this week. He agreed to that, but says he expects that they will dismantle the walls over the weekend.
And while that’s what he expects, we expect that the attorneys for Fort Street will try and take the case before the sitting judge of the Court of Appeals Manuel Sosa and ask him to grant a stay until the full court can hear it.
