Attorney thankful, vindicated after winning Superfast Galicia lawsuit

MARITIME attorney Nyree Alfonso said she was relieved at being vindicated now that the burden of a lawsuit has been lifted off her shoulders.

“I am thankful to God, my family and my attorneys. It feels wonderful to have vindication six years after being told by the Prime Minister, the Minister of Works, the Attorney General, Nidco, Minister Hinds and the Port Authority that I was being sued.”

On Tuesday, a High Court judge dismissed a lawsuit against her, a shipping agent and its principal over the acquisition of the MV Superfast Galicia to service the inter-island seabridge over a decade ago.

In a phone interview with Newsday, Alfonso said, “It feels wonderful to have this massive burden lifted.”

She said in her 30 years of practice in the maritime sector, none of her clients – many of which are foreign entities – had accused her of “anything like this before.

“And to have it done in my own country was a tragedy.”

She said the fact remained that TT received a vessel – the Galicia – that worked and was far cheaper and newer.

“The only attention they were placing was on the Superfast Galicia, which worked flawlessly on the route...

“There was never any evidence of anything shaky (with the Galicia’s acquisition.)”

In fact, she said the economics of its acquisition was proof there was no corruption involved in the process.

“It is a pity this wasn’t a legal case but a vendetta played out (with) taxpayers’ dollars. I don’t think they realistically felt something went wrong…

“It remained on the route a year after the Government changed in 2015. It was only when they refused to renew the charter party, they looked for a scapegoat and I was, regrettably, a convenient one.”