By Prior Beharry
LEADER of the Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM) Ancel Roget has made good on his promise and sent a legal letter to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley for a Facebook post.
Roget is claiming aggravated and exemplary damages for alleged slander contained in the post on August 29, 2022.
The post stated, “So they have made their move. Dump truckloads of sand and debris on both sides of the highway and block traffic! What a wonderful idea of leadership from Roget and the followers including the UNC! The marauding gangs of metal thieves threatened to, but did not complete the job of shutting down the country, so the leaders are helping them to get that done.”
It concerned the blocking of the Solomon Hochoy Highway by employees of the scrap iron industry protesting the ban on exports of their products for six months. Roget had called a press conference after the post to deny he had anything to do with the protests.
The pre-action protocol letter was filed by Kiel Taklalsinghon on Thursday. He said he acts with attorneys Stefan Ramkissoon, Leon Kalicharan and Rhea Khan.
Taklalsingh said at the time of writing, the post had been shared 350 times and commented upon 928 times.
He said, “Counsel has advised that Mr Roget is also entitled to substantial compensation for the injury caused to his reputation and feeling, including an award for aggravated and exemplary damages. In this regard, we are to invite your proposals.
“In the circumstances, we look forward to hearing from you without delay but in any event within 14 days of the date of this letter.
“If no satisfactory response is received at these offices within this period, our instructions are to issue a claim against you and to expeditiously pursue same.”
