Company wants 4 commissioners
to pay US $12.7M each in damages
~ Lawyer files court action over casino licence denial ~
PHILIPSBURG--Kildare Properties, owner of Caravanserai Beach Resort, is asking the Court of First Instance to order four of the current five Commissioners of the Executive Council of St. Maarten to each pay his client US $12.7 million plus interest.
The lawsuit filed by lawyer Marius Römer on behalf of Kildare Properties Ltd. of Beacon Hill seeks to hold Commissioners Sarah Wescot-Williams, Theo Heyliger, Louie Laveist and Roy Marlin each personally liable for the sum of US $12.7 million plus interest.
The developer claims it suffered damages because the Executive Council stated in a July 18 letter that it would not grant a casino licence to GN Entertainment, the operating company of the Dunes Casino at the hotel,.
Römer, in his urgent request filed for a standard proceeding in the Court of First Instance, contended that by denying the casino licence the Executive Council acted unlawfully towards his client and caused the said client to suffer damages.
Based on an October 2, 2006, Island Council resolution, Kildare Properties submitted a second request on February 22 this year for a casino licence for GN Entertainment.
During last year’s meeting, the Island Council, with nine votes in favour and one against, approved a motion rendering inadmissible an appeal by Princess Juliana International Airport operating company PJIAE against the granting of the permit, thus approving a planning permit for room expansion and upgrading of the resort.
Another motion was approved during that same meeting mandating the Executive Council to grant the licence once Kildare Properties “satisfactorily demonstrated” that financing for the expansion was in place and that construction would not exceed 24 months from the date the building permit was issued.
On September 15, 2005, Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards had sent to Governor Frits Goedgedrag for annulment the first decision of the Executive Council to grant a licence.
The Executive Council had issued a licence based on a letter of May 1996 that “government would entertain granting a licence for a casino on that property, taking into consideration the expansion plans of the resort in question.”
But, despite the October 2, 2006, motions the Island Council had approved, the Executive Council decided on January 16 to suspend all decision-taking on granting the casino licence for an indefinite period until the required 200 rooms were built.
This meant the Executive Council did not handle Kildare Properties’ second request for a casino licence on behalf of GN Entertainment filed on February 22.
In his request for a standard proceeding, Römer stated that Kildare Properties, based on the promise of the Executive Council that Kildare Properties could obtain the casino licence if it built the 200 rooms at the hotel, had taken out a loan at Scotiabank for US $12.7 million. In addition, Kildare had requested the necessary building permits for the rooms.
Meanwhile, 18 months have gone by and the Executive Council hasn’t issued the building permits.
As a result of the delay, which the company contends is solely the fault of the Executive Council, financing for the construction of the rooms has suffered because the rent the casino would pay the hotel, US $50,000 per month, formed an essential part of the monthly payment of the US $12.7 million loan.
This situation has caused Scotiabank to withhold approval of the loan, contending that it needs to receive a guarantee that the casino licence will be issued.
Kildare Properties and Scotiabank thought they had received this guarantee when, on October 2, 2006, the Island Council approved a resolution instructing the Executive Council to issue the casino licence.
The company appealed the Executive Council’s refusal to take a decision on the casino licence, in the Court of First Instance on March 8.
On April 25, Kildare Properties requested the Executive Council to take a decision on its new request for a casino licence.
When the Executive Council persisted in refusing to take a decision on the licence application, Kildare Properties, on May 8, requested the Court of First Instance in Curaçao to take a decision in the matter.
Handling of the March 8 appeal and the May 8 request took place in the Court of First Instance in St. Maarten on June 28.
On July 13, Judge Joop Drop ruled, in what is called a LAR (Federal Ordinance on Administrative Law) case that Kildare Properties’ appeal was “legitimate” and gave the Executive Council two months to take a decision. The judge refused to take a decision in the case himself.
In a July 18 letter, the Executive Council informed Kildare Properties that it would not be granted the licence. On August 21, based on the Executive Council’s response, Römer filed an urgent request for a standard proceeding on behalf of his client, requesting the court to order Commissioners Wescot-Williams, Heyliger, Laveist and Marlin each to pay his client US $12.7 million plus interest.
According to Römer, with the resolution all four Commissioners, who are also Island Council members, had given the guarantee Scotiabank had requested. But, by not keeping their promise, they acted unlawfully towards his client, he said.
