A group of La Romaine residents left the San Fernando Magistrates Court disappointed yesterday after they failed to stop Glo6 fete from being held in their community tomorrow.
Granting the occasional licence for the fete, deputy Chief Magistrate Mark Wellington suggested that the law be amended to allow residents to object to such licences.
Sea View Parkway Company Ltd, represented by Wendy Durham, Reshma Maharaj and Gary Rattan, filed a petition in the court objecting to the fete at Space La Nouba compound in La Romaine.
When the matter came up yesterday, attorneys Keith Beckles and Dexter Bailey represented licence applicants– Sheldon Stephen and Dwight Grant – while attorney Rennie Gosine represented the objectors.
Citing Section 44, Sub Section 1 of the Liquor Licence Act, Beckles argued the provision explicitly stated only the police officer in charge of the division could object to the licence.
He said that position was authoritatively pronounced upon by a 2014 Court of Appeal judgment.
In this case, he said, police prosecutor Cleyon Seedan stated that the police had no objection. He further submitted that the objectors could not be entertained because they had no locus standi.
Gosine said he had not seen the judgment that Beckles cited but he did not agree that only the police could object.
Gosine cited another Court of Appeal judgment in 2013 in a similar case where the objectors were successful but the magistrate said Section 44 was not expressly raised in that matter.
Noting that nothing in the section gave anyone else other than the police the right to object to the licence, he said: "Maybe the law should be amended for occasional licences. I am not a legal draftsman."
However, the magistrate said from a moral standpoint Gosine was quite right that residents ought to have a say if a fete was being held in their community but from a legal one Beckles was correct.
The magistrate also dismissed an application by Beckles for costs. The magistrate approved 29 police officers for the fete and 24 fire officers.
Citizens have no voice
"Citizens have no voice. If you don't get the media involved or protest, you get no justice," said Wendy Durham.
Speaking to reporters afterwards, she added: "We cannot sleep in our house. The music is so loud that our glass bangs. You can't watch television, you cannot enjoy your property. The fete starts at 9 pm on the compound and finishes 4 or 5 o clock in the morning.
Since 2007, she said, they have been making complaints to the Environmental Management Authority because the noise level went above the agreed decibel level but they got no redress.
"We were told to go to court and object to the licence," she added.
Space owner Bunny Persad, who was in court, countered that the fete promoters had received all the necessary approval, including from EMA, to host the fete. He said it was not their intention to inconvenience anyone.