Kareem loss again, urgent appeal dismissed and legal costs to be paid to cepep. They have to wait in line for their case to be heard.
Appeal Court dismisses Cepep contractor's appeal application for urgent hearingCEPEP contractor Eastman Enterprises Ltd suffered another blow as an Appeal Court judge dismissed its application for an urgent hearing in its challenge against the April termination of more than 300 contracts.
Justice of Appeal Nolan Bereaux heard Eastman Enterprise Ltd’s urgent appeal application on August 20.
The contractor had, a week earlier, approached the Appeal Court to lift the stay imposed by Justice Margaret Mohammed on August 7.
Eastman also wanted an order to send its lawsuit and injunction application back to the High Court before another judge, a declaration that the judge’s referral to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) was procedurally improper and unlawful and if the court rules in its favour, for the Appeal Court’s order and decision to be sent to the DPP.
However, in an oral ruling, Bereaux said the application lacked the urgency needed to have the matter heard during the Supreme Court’s annual long vacation.
In support of the application, one of Eastman’s attorneys, Kareem Marcelle, who is also the PNM’s MP for Laventille West, said in an affidavit that an urgent hearing and decision were required because the contractor would be seriously disadvantaged.
“The respondent’s harsh and oppressive actions in immediately terminating the contract of the appellant, the workers in the Cepep programme and all other contractors and workers have caused devastating effects.”
Eastman’s lead attorney, Larry Lalla, SC, submitted that the workers were from the lower socio-economic level. To bolster his submissions, Lalla read from an affidavit from an affected worker, Beetham Gardens resident Cindy-Ann Purcell. She said the decision to end Eastman’s contract left her “shocked, betrayed and hurt.” Purcell, who worked with Cepep for six years under different contractors, said she fears for her four children’s wellbeing now that she is out of work.
Her eldest, 26, has ADHD, another, 25, attends university in the United States on scholarship for track and field, her third, 19, is unemployed but is also hoping to secure a similar scholarship, while her youngest, 10, attends primary school. She said she is her family’s sole provider, as she separated a few years ago from the children’s father. She said she was now in a desperate position due to the sudden loss of income, especially with the new school term expected to reopen soon.
Lalla said the hardship suffered by the affected families made the appeal urgent.
However, Cepep’s lead attorney, Anand Ramlogan, SC, argued that Eastman had been paid $9 million by the company and questioned why the contractor was solely reliant on Cepep. He suggested the contractor assist its workers to get jobs from other companies since Eastman had contracts with other state-run enterprises in the past.
He said 7,000 workers would have also lost jobs in 2017, after contracts were terminated under the then PNM government and suffered the same hardship.
Ramlogan said that for every Cepep worker who had a job for the past decade, there were thousands of others on the same lower income level who were unemployed and found ways to survive.
Ramlogan submitted that Cepep was never intended to offer permanent employment as it was based on a business incubator model.
In ruling on the application, Bereaux said there was nothing advanced in the affidavits to demonstrate urgency over other matters waiting to be heard by the appellate court.
In dismissing Eastman’s application, he ordered the contractor to pay Cepep’s legal costs.
In its notice of appeal, Eastman had argued that Mohammed erred in law and fact when she ruled that the company’s claim must first go through the contract’s mediation process before being brought to court. The judge also referred the case documents to the DPP for review and ordered Eastman to pay costs.
Eastman’s legal team, led by Lalla, with St Clair O’Neil and Marcelle, advanced 11 grounds of appeal. They contended that Mohammed misapplied the law on clause 17 of the contract, wrongly placed the burden on Eastman to object to the wording of the clause, and failed to account for the company’s need for urgent interim relief, which mediation could not provide.
The appeal also challenged the judge’s findings that Eastman “ought to have been aware” of alleged fraudulent misrepresentation in a board note signed by then chairman Joel Edwards, even though she accepted there was no evidence of Eastman’s involvement. Eastman further argued that Mohammed improperly relied on Cepep’s affidavit without giving the contractor a chance to respond, relied on untested evidence, and acted outside her authority in referring the matter to the DPP.
Mohammed had ruled that clause 17 of the contract, which sets out a tiered dispute resolution process, remained valid even after the agreement’s termination. She said both parties were bound to follow that process, which she argued promoted legal certainty and served the public interest.
The contractor’s lawsuit, which alleges wrongful termination and unpaid wages for thousands of workers, is one of two filed by Laventille-based contractors over Cepep’s decision to cancel 336 extended contracts. The other case was withdrawn after it emerged the company was not on the Companies Registry.
The mass termination, carried out just months after the controversial contract extensions to 2029, has been a political flashpoint, with the opposition PNM accusing the government of mishandling the matter and leaving thousands of workers unemployed.
It also comes after Cepep has taken the initial steps by issuing pre-action protocol letters against its former board for breach of fiduciary duty over the same contract extensions, days before the April 28 general election, which could cost the state an estimated $1.4 billion.
Also appearing for Eastman was St Clair O’Neil, while Kent Samlal, Jared Jagroo and Asha Ramlal also represent the Cepep Company Ltd.
https://newsday.co.tt/2025/08/20/appeal ... t-hearing/
