Ames wanted lands acquired to sell to his company, Court told

The owner of Harlequin Property (SVG) Ltd Dave Ames wanted the Government to acquire private land so that it could be sold to his company to build the Buccament Bay Resort.

On Wednesday, during a sitting of the High Court of England and Wales here in Kingstown, emails between Ames and his local solicitor Samuel Commissiong were read, which revealed that Ames wanted Commissiong to ask {{more}}certain favours of the Prime Minister.

The emails were read by Justin Fenwick, lawyer for Wilkins Kennedy, a firm of accountants and auditors, which is being sued by Harlequin Property (SVG) Ltd and Harlequin Hotels and Resorts Ltd for professional negligence.

The US$70 million claim is being heard primarily in London, but the court relocated to St Vincent this week to facilitate a site visit to the Buccament Bay Resort, which is central to the claim, and the testimony of locals.

During interrogation of Commissiong on Wednesday, Fenwick read to the court an email in which Ames instructed Commissiong to request a meeting with Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves. The email further told Commissiong to inform Bernard and Bernadette Punnett that if they did not respond to an offer he made to purchase a large parcel of land from them within seven days, he would ask the Government to acquire the land to sell it to him.

The court learned that the Punnetts owned some of the land Ames had set his sights on for his resort and although Bernard was ready to close the deal, he could not do so without permission from his sister.

When questioned by Fenwick, Commissiong said he could not recall Ames expressing the desire to have the Government acquire the land.

Fenwick read other emails in which Ames asked Commissiong to have deported a contractor whom Commissiong told the court they were “having problems with.”

Commissiong, however, said he told Ames that is not something the Prime Minister would do, unless the contractor had done something illegal.

In his evidence, Commissiong revealed that the resort had a problem of theft by the contractors and workers. He said the theft caused a delay in the opening of the resort. (AS)