The Ministry of Natural Resources is suing Joe Coye. Two weeks ago when the cautions were lifted from lands on a development in Caribbean Shores which Coye had initiated, the former Area Representative said that he had been vindicated and implied that the whole thing had been put into motion by a public officer with an axe to grind. Well instead of vindication, Coye is going to be the subject of litigation. Coye sent out a release this evening saying that he has been served with notice that the Ministry of Natural Resources has filed a civil suit against him. In his statement Coye says that he welcomes the opportunity which will once and for all exonerate him of any and all wrongdoing.
The Ministry’s positions is that Coye and former Natural Resources Minister Marin acted jointly to get public land at a below market value price. And that’s not the only politically relevant filing in the courts. Attorneys Godfrey Smith and Elson Kaseke – acting on behalf of Jaguar Paw Resort have filed a motion for judicial review against NICH and its President Dianne Haylock. The grounds are that Caves Branch – known as No Hoch Chen – is not an archeological reserve, that the contract was entered into without the consent of the NICH Board and that it was signed by a representative of the Institute of Archaeology – which is not a legal entity. They are asking the courts to cancel the contract and issue an injunction restraining Cruise Solutions from going ahead with the contract.
