Tourism Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Ernest Hilaire has profited the opportunity to address the media as it relates to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) decision in the “RoverGate” affair.
The long-winding saga started some eight years ago when Hilaire, a returning diplomat at the time, imported a Land Rover he said was purchased with his own funds. Allen Chastanet, the Prime Minister at the time, contended that the vehicle may have been the property of the High Commission and consequently the property of the state.
The eight-year saga came to a close last week when the CCJ dismissed Chastanet’s Appeal to reinstate a charge brought against Hilaire by Acting Comptroller at the time, Peter Chiquot. The Land Rover was held by the Customs Department for a year before it was returned and the case discontinued by a new Comptroller after the St. Lucia Labour Party (SLP) victory at the last general elections.
Hilaire recounted the saga chronologically at government’s Monday press conference. “I can recall the memo from the then Director of Finance saying they had no record of ever having purchased such a vehicle or ever having disposed of such a vehicle, but she still asked that there be an investigation because that was what the instruction was.” Hilaire suggested that the narrative changed numerous times as he continued to provide proof of his good standing. “What I did then was to bring a suit against Chiquot and the Attorney General. The courts sent it to mediation and at that mediation his (Chiquot) lawyer was able to persuade for the matter to be settled, and he would have had to apologize.”
The Deputy Prime Minister said he suffered through years of having his name “sullied” on numerous occasions during that time. He expressed satisfaction that the CCJ spoke clearly in their dismissal of the issue before them and putting the matter to rest once and for all. “But all along my name is being sullied and dirtied to destroy my reputation. The CCJ really put it in perspective, it was a monumental waste of the court’s time. So, we are now waiting for the next judgement that will come where he (Chastanet) applied for an injunction to stop the CIP and that one the case was heard July 26.”
Hilaire, who also touched on the Bananes Lands issue, was also convinced that his accusers would be back soon with more accusations in a continued effort to destroy him and the SLP.
The tourism industry was one of the other issues discussed at Monday’s government press conference.