Squabbling over a portion of the land that would be used by the Ginn company for its $4.7 billion development in West Grand Bahama is continuing before the courts with a family that claims ownership of the property mounting an appeal before the Court of Appeal.
The appeal was filed after Justice Jeanne Thompson ruled that the Ginn company should have title to the land in light of an agreement for sale dated March 25, 2005, which it has with the Grand Bahama Hotel Company.
The approximately 200 plus acres in question are reportedly a portion of the land granted by the Crown to John Bootle in the 1800s, and form a part of Bootle Bay. Several of his descendants had been fighting for the land in court, but in the end, it was Wilbert Bootle whose claim to the land was rejected by Justice Thompson. (The other relatives withdrew their claims.)
The judge said she was satisfied that the Grand Bahama Hotel Company had produced a good title to the property.
Her ruling noted that in a presentation, “lacking in proper preparation, and with disorganised argument and a seeming lack of knowledge or understanding of the concepts of property law”, the attorney for Wilbert Bootle submitted to the court that the Hotel Companyﾒs title “lacked authenticity.”
Mr. Bootle claimed that he and his family attempted to develop the land, but a lack of funds prevented them from doing so, but the court determined in any event, that the Bootles were not legal owners of the property.
The decision was made after “extensive examination” of documents of title produced by the Grand Bahama Hotel Company, which claimed that it had deduced a good and marketable title to the land from at least 1968.
But Mr. Bootleﾒs attorney, Godfrey “Pro” Pinder, is asking the Court of Appeal to set Justice Thompsonﾒs order aside, and order that a certificate of title be issued to Mr. Bootle.
Mr. Pinder contends that the judge erred in law in not finding that the certificate granted to Ginn was “obtained by fraud” and the Grand Bahama Hotel Company did not “upon a true investigation of the matter, present a good root of title.”
In his Notice of Appeal, the attorney also submits that, “the courtﾒs decision was so tainted by such conflict of interests and other breaches of the rules of equity and or natural justice so as to affect the substantial justice of the case.”
Mr. Pinder also claims that a former governor general should not be arguing before the courts because there are inherent conflicts, if not room for a former GG to “intimidate” a justice of the Supreme Court.
Former Governor General Sir Orville Turnquest is representing the Grand Bahama Hotel Company.
On Sunday, Mr. Pinder said he remained convinced that a certificate of title should not be issued to Ginn.
“We believe that they should not have gotten the land simply because they were not even a part of the action,” he told the Bahama Journal.
The disputed land represents only a fraction of the land on which the mega Ginn development will sit. The project is being developed on nearly 2,000 acres of land.
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
