Injunction granted to San Juan market vendors

A HIGH COURT judge has blocked the San Juan/Laventille Regional Corporation from charging or collecting rent for stalls at the San Juan public market in excess of what is permitted under the market’s by-laws.

Justice Frank Seepersad yesterday granted an interim injunction to fruit and vegetable market vendor Jaiwantee Maccoon, who is challenging the corporation’s decision to increase rent for stalls.

The injunction covers all vendors who have stalls at the market until the lawsuit is heard and determined.

Seepersad said he intends, once the matter remains on his docket, to hold a speedy hearing, as public-interest cases must be dealt with urgently.

Macooon also received the court’s permission to file a judicial review claim challenging the decision of the corporation to increase and demand rent for stalls at the San Juan public market.

Maccoon is also asking for an order for all rent paid in excess of what was prescribed by the by-laws to be returned to her.

In granting leave, Seepersad said her claim had a reasonable prospect of success, as it appeared that the statutory framework for increasing the rent was not followed to guard against arbitrary increases.

“There is a process to amend fees,” the judge said. For rental fees to be increased, the market by-laws must be amended, any proposed increase must be gazetted and legal notices published. The gazetting of an amendment to a by-law must receive the approval of the Cabinet, and cannot be done by the corporation.

Seepersad said the issue was not the quantum of the fees, but the process which needed to take place before rent is increased.

Public markets, he added, provided an invaluable service to the country.

“An increase (of rent) may be long overdue, but the rule of law cannot be eviscerated to effect the increases,” the judge said.

“Nothing undermines the confidence of the public in the rule of law (more) than when statutory bodies elect to disregard the law,” he said, as he also critcised the corporation for failing to attend yesterday’s hearing, although it had been served with notice.

Maccoon is represented by attorneys Gerald Ramdeen, Umesh Maharaj and Dayadai Harripaul. In August, vendors protested the move, saying the increased rent was almost ten times what was prescribed by law.

In 2006, when the by-laws for the market were approved, the rent charged was $3 and $5 per day in some cases and $5 in others.

In 2010, rent rose to $50 per week per stall, or $200 per month.

Five years later, rent again increased by $10, and a year later, in June 2016, to $800.

The vendors say they are struggling to meet expenses, which include buying goods and paying transport costs.

They want the court to declare the action of the corporation illegal, unlawful and unreasonable.