The State has been ordered to pay $1 million in compensation to the family of a maxi taxi operator who was killed when a branch from a tree fell on his car in D'Abadie two years ago.
High Court Master Martha Alexander made the order in the Port-of-Spain High Court yesterday after assessing the damages owed to the family of Jamil Mohammed, a 43-year-old father of two, of Cumuto.
A large part of the figure – $594,000 – represents the estimated income he would have earned from operating his maxi taxi and a roti- catering business, which his wife, Shaffina, was forced to close after her husband died from head injuries from the accident on July 2, 2012. The family also has received $31,725 to cover his funeral expenses.
Shaffina and the couple's two children – Iejaz, 17, and 11-year-old Sameera – were also awarded $370,800 under the Compensation for Injuries Act to compensate for the money they would have received from Mohammed for food, school, transport and personal allowance, if he was still alive.
They also received a $20,000 payment for the loss of his life, as well as almost $50,000 to cover their legal costs for bringing the lawsuit.
Iejaz was with his father when the branch of the silk cotton tree collapsed on their Mitsubishi Lancer on the Eastern Main Road, D'Abadie, next to the Cleaver Woods Recreation Park. However, the teenager escaped with minor injuries.
The family filed a civil lawsuit against the Arima Borough Corporation which operates and maintains the facility.
While the corporation conceded the family was entitled to compensation, it strongly disputed claims over Mohammed's alleged income before his death.
Its lawyer, Kelisha Bello, took issue with the fact that the family was unable to provide documentation on the income it generated from both the maxi taxi and especially the catering business.
Although Alexander raised some concern with their lack of proper accounting records her mind was put at ease by the evidence of their customers, for whom they had catered large weddings and functions.
"Given the very nature of this occupation and the particular hours and number of days worked by the deceased, I was mindful that documentary or corroborating evidence would have been a challenge," Alexander said, while addressing the issue of the maxi taxi income in her 17-page decision.