“We will be writing to the Port-of-Spain Corporation’s chief executive officer to suspend wrecking operations until we are clear legally and otherwise,” Sharma told the Newsday newspaper.
“I am very certain that the corporation has acted outside the law. I am in fact obtaining legal opinion from within the ministry. As you know we have legal officers who we will engage to ensure we correct this issue.”
The mayor of Port of Spain, Louis Lee Sing, insists that the corporation is not doing anything wrong by charging motorists $1,300, which includes a fee of $300 for wrecking services.
He told the Express newspaper according to the Port of Spain City Ordinance of 1950, the mayor is the first magistrate of the city and as such "has the power of a magistrate", giving him the right to charge $1,000 for administrative costs for the impounding of vehicles within the city.
However, respected Senior Counsel Dana Seetahal disagrees. She told the Express she has not found any law giving the mayor the right to charge people this amount. She added that the 1950 law that the mayor referred to has been repealed and the mayor has no such powers.
"That law has been repealed since 1990 and replaced with section 274 of Act number 21 of 1990 and the name of that act is the Municipal Corporations Act and that act has all the powers of the mayor or mayors in Trinidad and Tobago...
"So he has misled himself and is breaking the law. Parking restrictions is the business of the police, not the mayor. Either way, a magistrate is someone who hears cases. They don't enforce the law, that is for the police."
Lee Sing reacted by telling the paper: "that is Ms Seetahal's view...As far as I am concerned, that law is still in effect and that is the information that I have in my command," he said.
Another legal source also disagrees with Lee Sing. Former deputy chief magistrate Debra Thomas-Felix told the Trinidad Guardian the words of a mayor are not law and have no legal force without legislation.
Thomas-Felix asked: “Where does the city corporation get the power to tow vehicles and then charge an arbitrary fee for impounding costs? Under the Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Act it is only the T&T Police Service that has the powers to tow vehicles that are infringement of road traffic laws.
“I am not aware that the city corporation owns a wrecking service and has the statutory power to tow vehicles,” she said.
Under section 109 of the amended Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Act the fines for the removal of a vehicle and for custody of a vehicle are $300 and $200, respectively. The act states the money is payable to the Commissioner of Police and not to the corporation.
Thomas-Felix said, “Those affected by this towing that causes damage to their vehicles may be entitled to damages from the court if they file a civil suit against the corporation." However she explained that most people pay the fines because it is less costly that hiring an attorney and going to court.
Sharma said he understands that the owners of some of the cars that were wrecked on instructions from the city have been refunded monies paid to the Port-of-Spain Corporation.
The minister promised to take the matter to cabinet on Thursday.
1 comment:
Who is/are Louis' legal advisor/advisors? This advice seems reckless not to mention patently inaccurate to me.
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