Overnight injunction for highway

A day after a High Court judge lifted an injunction which paved the way for the continuation of work on the Churchill Roosevelt Highway extension to Manzanilla, work has been halted – at least until today.

As a result of an undertaking by contractor KallCo, work will not be done on the highway at least until today when Justice Peter Rajkumar rules on an application for a temporary injunction being sought by Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS).

The undertaking by KallCo came after attorneys for the Ministry of Works could not immediately give one when asked by Rajkumar after a marathon seven-hour hearing in the Court of Appeal yesterday.

Rajkumar is being asked by FFOS for an expedited appeal of Justice Kevin Ramcharan’s ruling on Tuesday which threw out their challenge of the decision by the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) to issue a certificate of environmental clearance (CEC) for the highway extension.

Ramcharan dismissed all 14 complaints raised by FFOS in its claim for judicial review.

The hearing for the expedited appeal continues today. The judge has already indicated that he will give his ruling on whether the FFOS’ appeal should be expedited, next week Friday.

The ministry is represented by attorney Ian Benjamin while KallCo is represented by Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes.