The popular “Dread Shop” at Russell Square, Stabroek is no more.
City Council workers moved in early on Thursday morning and completely demolished the hangout spot although the Council and the owner are currently entangled in a court matter that prevented the Council from taking action against the property.
It was just before 3 o’ clock Thursday morning that City Hall’s demolition crew ripped apart the building without warning, leaving nothing but rubble behind.
An emotional owner of the business place said he has lost millions of dollars in property and stocks as a result of the City Council’s action.
He said his business, which is located just across from the Stabroek Market, had become a landmark since it was established more than 30 years ago.
Attorney-at-Law Nigel Hughes who is representing the interest of the owner said he was shocked by the City Council’s move and never expected that when persons voted for a change at the City Council, it would have only resulted in a change in personalities.
Mr. Hughes explained that the Appeal Court had only recently transferred the matter to mediation, as it continued to hear the matter.
He said the Chief Works Officer has not been turning up for those hearings and the matter was at a standstill. But still he never expected that the Council through the Town Clerk would have decided to ignore the Court proceedings and go ahead with the demolition of the popular business place.
The matter had been taken to the Court under the previous government, when the then Ministry of Works had made a move to demolish the same structure. Mr. Hughes said he met with the Town Clerk today and he confirmed that the action to demolish the business place was the City Council’s action.
“The behaviour represented by the act of destruction here, is very similar to the same conduct that was complained about when Ms. Sooba was the Town Clerk. But the issue is this, How can you breach an order of the Court of Appeal which says that this matter must go to mediation and come and destroy a building in total and complete disrespect and disregard for the Court of Appeal. In effect, what the Town Council is saying by its actions is that they have no regard for the rule of law”, Hughes said.
The Attorney said he has asked the owner of the business to assess all of the damage and his losses as he will be moving to have the government fully compensate him for all that he would have lost.
“This is unlawful and outrageous action by the Town Clerk”, Hughes said, as he made it clear that he intends to form a human barrier in front of the nearby business in the same area if the City Council makes any attempt to demolish that building also.
The Attorney indicated that he intends to move to the Court on Friday morning over the latest development.
“All of us wanted a change in the system. We did not want a change of personnel to carry on the same acts from before. What we want is a change in the structure but what we continue to see in a repeated basis here, is a lack of courtesy, a lack of respect and a lack for the basic decent tenets of how you treat people with respect”, the Attorney said.
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