The Full Court on Monday dismissed a notice of appeal which had been filed by Astrolobe Technology Inc over a parking service it said it operated on East Street.
Astrolobe, whose principal is Saratu Phillips, had based its legal case on what it said was an agreement in 2007 with the City Council for the operation of paid parking.
A release from the Attorney General’s Chambers yesterday said that Justices Nareshwar Harnanan and Sandil Kissoon in the Full Court of the Supreme Court of Judicature, in a unanimous decision, dismissed the Notice of Appeal filed by Astrolobe on the 10th day of July, 2021 against a High Court decision.
The release said Astrolobe through its Attorney-at-Law, Darren Wade, had filed a Notice of Appeal to the Full Court asking that the decision made in the High Court by Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall on the 14th day of June, 2021 be set aside.
In the High Court, via a Fixed Date Application filed on 23rd November, 2020, Astrolobe stated that on the 1st October, 2007, it had entered into a contract with the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown (MCC) for the provision of paid parking in the city. Astrolobe claimed that pursuant to that contract it was authorised to operate parking facilities in the “Old Georgetown jurisdiction, which boundaries are seawalls to the North, Independence Boulevard to the South, Irving Street to the East and Demerara River to the West.”
The release yesterday said that Astrolobe claimed that it had been operating a paid parking lot on the City’s reserve in the vicinity of East Street, South Cummingsburg and that on the 14th November, 2020 agents of the Ministry of Public Works disrupted its operations by removing the fence and gate of the parking lot. As a result, Astrolobe Technology Inc. had sought the following orders:
i. A declaration that its fundamental rights of protection from deprivation of property and protection against arbitrary entry were infringed
ii. A declaration that the respondent had trespassed on the Applicant’s property
iii. A declaration that the defendant caused loss to the Applicant’s business by unlawful means and,
iv. Damages.
The case was dismissed in the High Court and an appeal was then filed against that dismissal to the Full Court.
The release said that on Monday, Justices Harna-nan and Kissoon sitting in the Full Court, in their ruling found, among other things, that:
(i) The Agreement relied upon did not entitle nor grant Astro-lobe permission to operate such a facility at East Street George-town in 2007 or at all.
(ii) There was no evidence as to the operation of a parking facility as contemplated by the Contract.
(iii) There was nothing before the court to show that eight years after the agreement had been executed that there was operationalized a parking facility at East Street Demerara.
(iv) There was no evidence before the Court of any loss on the part of the Appellant/ Applicant; there was no evidence of any alleged income, distribution of monies, nor any evidence of any deposits to any banks or other facilities nor the presentation of any financial statement as envisaged by the agreement.
The Attorney General was awarded costs of $350,000.
