Bran plans $250k lawsuit over ‘crippling roadworks’

and property damage, they sustained from roadworks that lasted well over a year and were extended several times beyond their completion date. He and Halsbury Chambers are asserting that they, individually, were effectively put out of business for two weeks last July when a power “outage” destroyed all electrical equipment.

Asserting that the lack of response is evidence of “the same old, same old”, despite the Davis administration’s promise of ‘new day’ governance, the ex-DNA leader told this newspaper: “I’ve asked the Government, by way of a letter a few months back, to compensate my firm for the loss of business and damages done last July as a result of the roadworks.

“That really outed my firm for about two weeks because of the damage done to by the road development to my offices, which caused all of my equipment - from computers to alarm systems, cameras, the Internet, phones - everything went down. We had to buy new equipment. We were crippled business-wise for about two weeks.

“I’ve written three letters to the Government about that, in addition to the damage done to my property; the parking lots and the islands,” Mr McCartney added of the roadworks. “I’ve written three letters to the Government - to each of the minister, the permanent secretary and Mr Emil Knowles of Knowles Construction, who was in charge of the road construction.

“I’ve not received one iota of a response from Mr Sears, nor the permanent secretary, but Mr Knowles has acknowledged, I think, that physical damage was done to the property and we were supposed to arrange a time for him to come to inspect and, hopefully, redress the situation in that regard.

“But I’ve not had the decency of a response from Mr Sears nor the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Works notwithstanding that we sent in a number of letters. I will tell you that our next step will be to bring an action against the Government. I intend to do that as soon as I get back on island this coming week,” he continued.

“We started sending letters in from earlier this year. If I’m not mistaken, it was from April. I’ve sent three letters to Mr Sears, the permanent secretary and Mr Knowles. They’re as quiet as a mouse apart from Mr Knowles, as he acknowledged certain damages being done. It’s a matter of him coming to do an assessment and to resolve.”

Detailing on what grounds he will initiate legal action against the Government, Mr McCartney said: “We will be suing the Government for loss of business, for damages, for loss of equipment. That is to the tune of around quarter-of-a-million dollars.

“It’s very frustrating. This is supposed to be a ‘new day’ government, but it’s the same old, same old in terms of lack of reply, lack of response. You always wish to have these matters resolved, and come to some agreement, prior to taking any further steps but the Government has failed to give any type of acknowledgement.

“It’s the same old, same old. I find it to be disrespectful, quite frankly, very disrespectful. And out of order. If I cannot get any answer from them I will take it to the court for the court to give some direction as to what should be done.”

Asked how he felt over the Government’s lack of response, Mr McCartney replied: “It’s frustrating to no end, it’s frustrating to no end. Alfred Sears is a businessman, he’s an attorney. He would know how it is if your firm is knocked out for about two weeks and you’re lacking the equipment to do your work but not a reply. The letters were personally served at his office and send by e-mail. We saw where he received one of the e-mails.”

Away from Mr McCartney and Halsbury Chambers’ personal situation, Village Road-based businesses as a collective are still waiting to learn how the Government plans to follow through on previous pledges to provide some kind of financial compensation for the loss and damages they suffered due to the roadworks either cutting of customer access or deterring clients from visiting the area altogether. No details or timeline have yet been forthcoming.

Michael Fields, president of Four Walls Squash and Social Club, told Tribune Business that the group is seeking to “get things back on track” and arrange another meeting with the Government to see where the issue stands after “backing off” to allow the Davis administration to focus on the 2023-2024 Budget and subsequent debate.

Confirming that the group’s collective mission, and compensation proposal, has not changed, he added: “To be quite frank, it’s gone quiet. We’re actually probably going to set up a meeting this coming week to get things back on track.

“It’s in the Government’s hands. They came out and promised some things. I think Michael Halkitis [minister of economic affairs] made a statement about two months ago that they were considering a package, and would announce a package, and after that it went quiet.

“We backed off because it was Budget time,” Mr Fields continued. “We haven’t heard anything. We’re going to follow up and, to be quite frank, we had not actually been following up because we knew it was the Budget cycle and wanted to give the Government an opportunity to get through that.

“Obviously there’s frustration, but we also understand that things come to a halt around Budget time. We recognise that. Obviously, with the summer months and increase in BPL costs, many businesses are still struggling to get back on their feet and anything will help. We presented our case. The Government listened. The Government made some promises to do something. It’s really now to see what they come up with.”

Some Village Road businesses saw sales plummet by up to 70 percent during peak roadworks activity last year. Some 15 companies had signed their names to a letter authored by Mr Fields where it was suggested the Government provide “refurbishment grants” for residents and business owners to repair damaged premises, vehicles and other facilities impacted by the project. It also called for Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) bill discounts, and “full sponsorship” of a collaborative marketing campaign to entice consumers back to the Village Road area. VAT credits, plus Business Licence and real property tax waivers, were also suggested as mechanisms to compensate for the damage inflicted by roadworks that have caused consumers to avoid the area “like the plague” and resulted in up to a 46 percent income losses for businesses. It is not unheard of, though, for the Government to provide tax breaks and other concessions for businesses impacted by long-running roadworks projects. The last Christie administration did so for the New Providence Road Improvement Project that impacted multiple businesses in numerous areas of the island more than one decade ago.