FORMER attorney general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, SC, said the Cabinet was not above the law as he announced his intention to appeal a High Court ruling in relation to government’s use of a plot of land in San Fernando.
He made this statement at the at the Krishna Mandir, Todd Street, San Fernando on July 14, as he announced a decision by a group of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to appeal a decision by a High Court judge to dismiss their claim for judicial review to stop plans by the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) to build an apartment complex at Todd Street, San Fernando.
Maharaj is leader of the legal team representing these NGOs.
The appeal will be filed on July 15.
Maharaj was confident that the appeal would be successful.
“This battle if I may call it that, which has been embarked upon, is not only a battle for you. It is a battle for Trinidad and Tobago because after this matter is finally determined, there will be a precedent that in respect of the change of use of land, there has to be a procedure and rights and legitimate expectations which have accrued to individuals and groups have to be respected.”
He said the argument of the NGOs is firmly grounded in the Judicial Review Act of 2000, which was implemented during his tenure as AG.
“That Judicial Review Act is the law of Trinidad and Tobago. No one in TT is above the law, not even the Cabinet.”
[caption id="attachment_1096382" align="alignnone" width="1024"] The contentious piece of land at Todds Street, San Fernando which is earmarked for HDC housing - Photo by Lincoln Holder[/caption]
While the Cabinet has powers under Section 75 of the Constitution to make government policy, Maharaj said, “That power in Section 75 of the Constitution is subject to the laws of TT. Under the laws of TT, the town and country planning division (TCPD) determines what use is to be put to land.”
On July 4, Justice Jacqueline Wilson held that the Cabinet’s decision to transfer the land to the HDC fell within the scope of its constitutional power.
In 2022, the Krishna Mandir, the Shri Krishna Seva Trust Foundation, Stri Sevak Sabha Inc and the Concerned Citizens for a Better San Fernando challenged the Cabinet’s decision on September 8, 2022, to transfer a hectare of land at Todd Street to the HDC to build a multi-family housing development.
In January 2023, the judge permitted the groups to advance their claim that the Cabinet acted illegally and unreasonably when it changed the designation of the ten-hectare parcel of land from institutional to residential and transferred the land to the HDC to build approximately 72 apartment units.
Maharaj said a change of use of a piece of land requires a application to be made to the TCPD, which falls under the Planning and Development Ministry.
The TCPD, he continued, would conduct a site visit as part of its exercise in considering such applications made to it.
Maharaj said there was evidence before the court, in the form of letters from the Education Ministry and the TCPD, that the only us
