CANAAN resident Serina Hearn says her family is not interested in fighting the Tobago House of Assembly (THA).
“All we want is for them to uphold the law,” she told Newsday on March 19, hours after the High Court gave the green light for work to proceed on the $70 million Friendship Connector Road, Canaan.
But there is a caveat: construction must not be carried out on the portion of the land owned and occupied by her brother, Derek Hearn.
On February 28, Justice Eleonor Donaldson-Honeywell granted an injunction to stop the construction of a portion of the road after lawyers representing Derek Hearn, of Mill House 2, Friendship Estate, argued construction had damaged his property and began without the necessary approvals.
Hearn’s property has an organic farm, a horse stable, a beehive, an old wooden house, a well and two mills.
His attorney had argued that his rights as the owner of Mill House 2, Friendship Estate were violated because the project infringed upon his property and caused unjust destruction.
But on March 19, Donaldson-Honeywell lifted the injunction by consent on grounds that the THA would refrain from taking possession, trespassing on or conducting construction works on the portion of land identified as belonging to Hearn, which includes Mill House 1 and 2, a two-storey house, a flat, an apiary, a garden, a bus house as well as other structures until the substantive matter is heard and determined by the court.
The Friendship Connector Road is supposed to be a 2.7km dual-lane road, which the Division of Infrastructure, Quarries and Urban Development claims is 75 per cent complete.
Construction of the road began in May 2023 without the necessary Environmental Management Authority (EMA) or Certificate of Environmental Clearance (CEC) approvals. The latter was granted to the infrastructure division in September 2023 but with specific stipulations, which the Hearns argued the THA failed to meet.
Serina said although the injunction has been lifted by consent, in exchange for them agreeing to not trespass on the land her brother occupies, the family is still taking the THA to court for the portions of the property that has already been destroyed by the construction.
She said the ordeal has taken a serious toll on her brother’s health.
“My brother has had a horrific stroke with all of the stress, so I am trying to protect him from unlawful action. So with their agreement not to trespass, we are now proceeding with the real matter of their destruction of his property.
“They unlawfully and illegally destroyed the stables and the shackle house. So obviously that was the focus of our taking them to court, and now that they have agreed to no more trespassing, we will proceed with that matter as the focus.”
Serina said the family is not against the THA building a road.
“We are not trying to make their lives difficult.”
PNM: Justice for the Hearns
Commenting on the High Court’s decision via WhatsApp, Infrastructure Secretary Trevor James would only say, “We overcome stumbling blocks
