Judge tells Gopee-Scoon she must leave Petrotrin's house

A judge on Friday ordered the MP for Point Fortin to vacate a bungalow owned by State-owned Petrotrin by March 9, 2013.

Paula Gopee-Scoon

Paula Gopee-Scoon has been living in the house at Clifton Hill since she won the election in 2007 as the representative for the constituency. She continued to live in the bungalow after she was re-elected in 2010 and refused to leave after she was served a notice by the energy company stating that it needed the house for its own staff.

Gopee-Scooon insisted that she had a right to live there because of an agreement between herself and the company.

The company took the MP to court arguing that by her continued occupation of the bungalow it was losing rental income of $1,260 a month. Petrotrin's attorney told the judge that Gopee-Scoon’s defence to the lawsuit was nothing short of political patronage. 

Petrotrin granted a licence to the defendant, dated November 26, 1998, to occupy the bungalow. However on September 29, 2011, Petrotrin served notice on Gopee-Scoon to quit the premises, giving her until December 31, 2011 to leave. 

She refused to leave and challenged the company's decision to try to evict her, stating that as the Point Fortin MP she was entitled to live in the house

“Mi’lud, when one looks at the matter there is no defence. Political patronage is not a defence,” Petrotrin's attorney told the judge, who allowed both sides to discuss the matter.

They agreed that Gopee-Scoon deliver vacant possession of the premises situated at Bungalow No 130 Clifton Hill, Point Fortin, on or before March 9. In addition, the judge ordered the parties to engage in discussion in relation to Petrotrin’s claim for profit from rental and to submit to the court a Consent Order on or before February 14.