West Bay Road appeal to be heard in November
(CNS): Four ladies from the district of West Bay who are pressing on with their legal case over the closure of the West Bay Road by government under an agreement with Dart, the largest developer in the Cayman Islands, will have their appeal heard in November, the appeal panel confirmed Monday. The ladies also heard that the Attorney General’s Chambers will not be seeking its costs for the appeal even if the ladies lose in what has been seen as a wider public interest case. Dart, however, was not as generous and argued for its costs. But while the islands' wealthiest investor wished to reserve the right to claim costs should the women lose the appeal, the court has limited the scope since there should be no further arguments made by the developer in addition to those presented by the AG.
The legal dispute over the closure of the West Bay Road was lost by Alice Mae Coe, Annie Multon, Ezmie Smith and Betty Ebanks in the Grand Court earlier this year as the judge ruled that the women were out of time.
As a result Justice, Justice Alex Henderson did not go onto consider the merits or otherwise of their claim that the government was wrong to enter into the deal with Dart in the way it did and the unconstitutionality of the deal. Although there are various human rights and other constitutional questions raised by the case, none of the issues were addressed by the court.
The women said Monday, however, that they believe their case has significant merit. They also said that they have solid grounds of appeal regarding the timeline because of the uncertainty surrounding when the deal was official between the signing of the first so-called NRA agreement in December 2011 to the actual gazetting of the road closure in March 2013.
Speaking about the short appeal case management hearing on Monday, the ladies said they remained determined to press on and were pleased that the attorney general, who is representing the government in this appeal, had made it clear to the court that, regardless of the outcome, it would not seek to recover costs from the women.
Annie Multon explained that this was particularly important to them now as they are funding the project from their own pockets and with the support of the wider group that continues to back their position that the closure and the way it happened was unlawful. With many Caymanians and legal residents still concerned about the deal as a whole, as well as the closure of the road, the women have been able to fund the appeal so far but they are hoping to raise more cash to cover their legal costs to continue what they say is a very significant legal battle which is about much more than the closure of a stretch of road.
Category: Local News
Of all the things causing harm to the country they choose to go on a crusade about replacing a road with a park. It's actually quite funny. Meanwhile the dump is still there (and on fire again), the cruise terminal is still nowhere to be seen, MLAs are fleecing the country with their government credit cards, literally all the statutory boards seem to be corrupt, gangstas are shooting each other. But lets rip up that new road and put the old one back! That filthy congested eyesore stopping people getting to the beach was our heritage!
Of all the things causing this problem. What Mrs Annie Multon explained it is the way that the deal was done. The 4 ladies and about every Caymanian did not know that one man you know him did the deal with out anyone knowing . I think that the 4 ladies and their Attorneys and alot more Caymanians beleive it was done UNLAWFULL . About replaceing road with a park, WE had a road with a PUBLIC BEACH before that one man did the deal behind closed doors. To the point of this issue is that Caymanians has always loved the water, made thier living of it , fed thier families from it .Most of all what does it say on our national flag FOUND IT UPOND THE SEAS . The beach is part of the water , so then it would make part of our heritage .
You can't reason with people this stupid.
Yeah and hating is also a part of Cayman heritage, which is what this is all about. People just hate that fact that Non Caymanian do more for this place then those that were born and raised here.
Ladies you are very intelligent, if you must take it all the way to the Privy Council do just that.
In the words of Nelson Mandela "Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people" thank you ladies for your sacrifice.
Caymanians it is now time to free yourself from mental slavery and remember all that glitters is not gold, some are fools gold and will tarnish in a short time. Enough said.
A person born without any sense of proportion.
Doesn't look lik ethey are willing to sacrifice it all, which is way they want people to aggree not to come after them for costs if they lose. Which usually happens in cases like this..
Heritage exactly.
Coe' s have been opposing roads since since 1804
You may consider this silliess 00:15 there are those of us who consider it otherwise and we will contribute to the costs of this legitimate appeal by tese brave ladies. What was done was wrong and continues to be wrong.
Good, That is your right. But you should expect the defending parties to act on thier rights to sue for cost at the end of the case which is surely what the ladies would do if they won..
Good job Ladies, Caymanian women kept these islands together while the men were at sea, now a few of the strong Caymanian women who are offsprings of the ladies of that era are keeping Caymanian together thus leaving a legacy for those of the futue. Well done ladies you are worth you salt in gold. Thank you for being the David who is not afraid to go up againt the Goliath of Gath.
And now there are more Caymanian Men in NorthWard then there are at Sea, and the women still have thier back and still marry them..
More public money wasted by the CIG not seeking costs. It will only encourage more silliiness. It is one thing not to seek costs at first instance, it is a different issue when appeals are in issue.
What you call "silliness" is our Caymanian heritage. (Are you possessed of any values at all?)
Then you have no heritage. It is not "heritage", it is simply festering resentment.
22:50, I was born here 34yrs ago. I have seen the drastic change in development along Seven Mile Beach and West Bay Rd whilst growing up.
What I do not understand is why nothing was done by these women back then? Now they are blowing their retirement savings on a pointless battle?
It is Caymanians that sold out, not DART. It was Caymanians chasing the almighty dollar DART just happens to print it (or so it seems h has that much!).
You know what the best outcome would be in this whole mess? That these Ladies do not vote for Mac ever again (since it was he who inked this deal in the first place), nor do any of their supporters.
That would be a win in my books.
But alas it is just a dream. Because these idiots will be back a the polls again in no time singing his name.