Cudjoe, Crown Point man clash over airport land compensation

Tobago West MP Shamfa Cudjoe has fired back at Crompston Trace, Crown Point resident Wolwin Lovell after the circulation of a video in which he claims the State never compensated him for his property.

Lovell is one of the residents at Block D, to be acquired by the State for the expansion of the ANR Robinson International Airport.

Cudjoe, in a Facebook post on Monday, said: “There’s the 'he say, she say,' and then there’s always the FACTS. I’m always amazed by their eagerness and excitement to mislead the masses and distance themselves from the facts. Quite unfortunate that this constituent is being used in their mischief.”

She claimed Lovell was being prompted to "twist the facts" by someone with an "untoward agenda."

Cudjoe saidcontrary to Lovell's assertion in his video, she never previously called his name nor did she call him greedy.

Last week, Cudjoe addressed the issue at a grant distribution ceremony, saying there was an instance of a son claiming for a property for which his deceased father had previously been compensated.

Going into detail on Monday, Cudjoe said Lovell’s father received a section three notice to acquire his property on January 14, 1988 and submitted his claim for compensation on July 8, 1996.

She said Lovell's father gave him  a piece of the same property in 1995.

Cudjoe said, on October 1996 the Chief State Solicitor noted that payment for the entire plot of land would be made to the father, since the land was vested in his name at the date of acquisition.

"From August 4, 2006 his father began receiving payments/cheques for the said land," Cudjoe said.

She said Lovell's father wrote to the Commissioner of State Lands on April 16, 2008 saying that the land would be vacated within a month of receipt of the balance of payment.

Cudjoe said his father signed a receipt confirming full and final payment for the acquisition of the land on June 25, 2008, so the land should have been vacated by end of July, 2008.

However, she said Lovell is now making a separate claim for a piece of the land that the State. had  already acquired.

She said matters of this nature are complicated, and can easily end up before the court.

Giving an update on the acquisition process, Cudjoe said 106 of the 133 parcels needed for the project have already been settled with the State.

“There are 22 structures in parcel 45 state lands/previously acquired lands: ten estimated under $250,000 – six have been settled, two are abandoned, two to be settled; and 12 structures which are estimated over $250,000, also still to be settled.”

She said the government "continues to examine and address each case in an effort to achieve fair settlement for all affected residents.”

But when contacted on Tuesday, Lovell told Newsday the MP’s claim was untrue.

“Minister Cudjoe said that we received payment on the property – that is not truth. I am the owner of the property.

"I have the claims stating that this is a registered deed in my name – Wolwin Lovell – on September 29, 1995.”

Lovell said he has lived all his years on the property and received Town and Country approval to build on the land in 2015.

He asked why he received a section three notice from the government if the land was never his.

“This land belongs to me, and I have never received payment – never, never, never. All the information that they’re sharing there, the land has been in my name, and they know that, too.”

He said the minister's response shocked him.

“You see, they are not caring – they don’t care about people at all.”

He said he intends to retain a lawyer and seek further advice.