For the second time in two months, a Writ of Summons was issued to the Port Authority of the Cayman Islands on behalf of a potential leaseholder of a retail shop at the new Royal Watler Cruise Terminal.
This time the plaintiff is Ava Marzouca, who claims she had an agreement to lease the space known as unit #4 at the Royal Watler terminal building as a result of an undated letter from McKeeva Bush.
Peter Campbell filed a similar action against the Port Authority in December with relation to unit #4 at the Royal Water terminal building.
The Statement of claim with regard to Mrs. Marzouca included transcripts of several pieces of correspondence pertinent to the claim.
In this letter to Mrs. Marzouca, Mr. Bush wrote: ‘Please accept this letter as confirmation of our agreement to provide you with retail space for your business venture. You have been allocated unit 4 at approximately 556 square feet as per the attached site plan.’
Mr. Bush goes on to write that the letter is subject to a formal three-year lease agreement between Mrs. Marzouca and the Port Authority.
The letter is signed by Mr. Bush in the capacity of the Chairman of the Port Authority and Minister for Tourism, Environment, Development and Commerce.
The letter indicates that it was copied to Port Director Paul Hurlston.
Although the letter is undated, Mrs. Marzouca responded on 9 May 2005 thanking him for his ‘recent letter’ and indicating her eager anticipation to receiving the three-year lease agreement in the near future.
Mrs. Marzouca also wrote that she was ‘very excited to commence plans for my store’ in the letter.
That letter also indicates it was copied to Port Director Paul Hurlston.
After last year’s General Elections, which took place on 11 May, the government changed and Wayne Panton was appointed the new Chairman of the Port Authority.
Mr. Panton wrote to Mrs. Marzouca on 7 September 2005 advising her that the letter she had received from the former Chairman of the Port Authority agreeing to provide her retail space at Royal Watler subject to a formal lease was sent without the approval of the Port Authority.
The letter further outlines that Mrs. Marzouca should respond within the specified timeframe after receiving notification of the criteria for awarding Royal Watler retail units to allow for consideration of her lease application.
Subsequently, Nigel Bates, Chief Valuation Officer with the Department of Lands & Survey, wrote to Mrs. Marzouca on 5 December enclosing an information pack outlining details of the proposed lease terms and a lease application form. Mr. Bates advised Mrs. Marzouca that all applications would be ‘considered on their merits with particular regard to Caymanian and Tourism related business’.
Although the site plan sent to Mrs. Marzouca that accompanied Mr. Bush’s letter showed unit #4 to consist of 556 square feet, the information pack included in Mr. Bates’ letter showed it to comprise 482 feet.
In addition, instead of the three-year lease requirement outlined in Mr. Bush’s letter, the information pack in Mr. Bates’ letter indicated the lease was to be for a minimum of five years.
Asked about the discrepancy in square footage, Mr. Bates said Monday he only knew of the latest plans that were provided to Lands and Survey by the Port Authority and the project architects.
After receiving Mr. Bates’ letter, Mrs. Marzouca then engaged the law firm Myers and Alberga write to respond to him.
Among the many points made in that letter of 13 January 2006, Myers and Alberga noted what appeared to be an effort to terminate what it viewed as an existing agreement between Mrs. Marzouca and the Port Authority.
Myers and Alberga confirmed Mrs. Marzouca was willing to proceed with leasing unit #4 under the terms outlined in the information pack enclosed in Mr. Bates’ 5 December letter.
However, Myers and Alberga stated it had advised Mrs. Marzouca that ‘as the Agreement to lease unit #4 already exists, that an application for retail space, although it may be applicable to others, is not appropriate in her situation’.
One week later, on 20 January, Mr. Bates responded to the Myers and Alberga letter advising that since Mrs. Marzouca was not submitting an application form as requested, he was unable to make a recommendation for her to be allocated a unite at the Royal Watler Cruise Terminal.
‘Regarding any previous claims to an agreement with the Port Authority, I would advise you to take this up directly with them,’ Mr. Bates wrote.
Michael Alberga responded with two letters the same day, one to Mr. Bates inquiring if it was intended that unit #4 would be allocated to a party other than Mrs. Marzouca, and stating that if so, a court injunction would be obtained.
A letter was also written to the Chairman of the Port Authority asking whether the Port Authority proposed to honour the purported agreement with Mrs. Marzouca.
The Statement of Claim purports Mr. Bush had actual or ostensible authority to bind the Port Authority into an agreement and that his letter to Mrs. Marzouca constituted such an agreement.
Mrs. Marzouca also denies Mr. Bush sent the letter without the Port Authority’s approval.
Mr. Bates confirmed on Monday that he has not been advised to alter his approach to unit number 4, or for unit number 6 which is subject to contention from Peter Campbell.
‘We’ve had no injunctions come through,’ Mr. Bates said. ‘We’re carrying on as normal.
Robert Jones of Ritch & Conolly, who act on behalf of the Port Authority, confirmed that the Board would not be making any decisions about the allocation of retail spaces until it met later this month.
Mr. Bates said 126 lease applications had been received and that Lands & Survey has passed on the information about those applications and made some recommendations to the Board.
They have also prepared a list of questions that have come up during the application process for the Board to consider, concerning things like signage, after hours access and the use of outside terrace facilities.
Mr. Bates said he thought the construction work on the retail kiosks was now complete, and that it was hoped to have an opening at the end of March.
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