The Highway Re-Route Movement (HRM) has been given the green light to take its longstanding legal battle, over an injunction stopping the construction of the Debe to Mon Desir segment of the Point Fortin Highway project, to the Privy Council.
While the group was granted conditional leave for the appeal following the dismissal of its application by the Court of Appeal in August, they were only granted final approval yesterday after lawyers representing the Office of the Attorney General consented to the record of the appeal—a process which was necessary for the group to lodge the appeal in the United Kingdom-based court.
The group and its leader, Dr Wayne Kublalsingh, first sought the injunction is September, last year, as they claimed the State had intensified work on the disputed segment of the highway. They are contending that if the work is allowed to continue, the project will be completed before its substantive lawsuit over the State’s alleged breach of their constitutional rights is determined.
In May, trial judge James Aboud dismissed the application while agreeing with the State’s argument over the group’s delay in seeking injunction when it first filed the constitutional motion lawsuit in August 2012. Lawyers representing the AG’s office also submitted that the proposed injunction would be costly for the Government, as it would still be bound by its obligations to third party contractors.
Kublalsingh has since embarked on a second hunger strike over the Government’s refusal to accede to his request stop and conduct a comprehensive technical review the project. The injunction has also derailed the trial of the substantive lawsuit, which was initially scheduled to take place before the end of the year.