Dear Editor,
I am the registered owner of a minibus, registration no BHH 9038. I live in England and am a British citizen, but I have been visiting Guyana on a regular basis since my retirement.
On the 11th April 2008, I authorised a man (name given) to work my bus on Route 63. Our arrangement was that he would work the bus, and no other, for five days a week and pay my partner $25,000 per week. In addition the bus would be kept at my home address and would be checked by the mechanic on a weekly basis. I then returned to England.
My live-in partner joined me in England on the 18th May and told me that the man had not paid any money, or taken the bus to the mechanic to check the brakes. I told him on the phone on the 20th May 2008, to return the bus to my home, and that the mechanic was to collect the bus and check the brakes. The man did not comply, and from this point on he had no authority to have the bus or work the bus.
He did not comply with my instructions even after my caretaker met him, but he then paid a total of $48,000.00 in three instalments. Each time he was requested to return the bus. I tried several times to phone him but without success.
On the 20th June I received a phone call from my caretaker, informing me that the bus had had an accident. Again and since then I tried to phone the man without success. I returned to Guyana on the 10th October 2008 and I met with him on the 11th October 2008, requesting him to bring the bus home, and discussed the accident and his failure to inform me of it.
His response was that he gave the bus to another party (name given), who confirmed that the bus was given to him by the man to work, and that he then met with an accident and did not know where the bus was. No written or verbal report was given.
To date neither the man nor the other party have responded to my phone calls, or have returned my bus or offered any explanation for the accident, apart from their statement to the lawyer.
I understand that the other party accepted responsibility and signed a statement that he would pay, but he also claimed that he was forced to sign this statement in order to recover the bus from the station.
I collected my bus from the workshop and had it examined for damage and submitted my response to my lawyer making a request for the following information which was not available and is still not available:- court orders; marshal’s order when removing my bus BHH 9038; copies of the insurance certificate, fitness, licence, registration and driver’s licence for BJJ 5326. In addition I requested evidence of the damage to the same vehicle, the cost of repairs, witness statements, the police report from No 51 Police Station, copies of the affidavit signed by the second defendant, the receipt of sale for BJJ 5326, and the charges brought against the driver/s.
After the hearing I was told that I had lost the case and would have to pay $750 000.
I returned to Guyana on the 24th January 2013, and at 0930hrs, court marshals arrived at my address and confiscated my bus BHH 9038. I challenged the marshals to produce documents with a different name and registration, because the ones they had were inaccurate, but they requested me to sign these inaccurate documents. Naturally I refused because for the very first time I had the opportunity to see any papers and found that they carried incorrect information.
Since then I have tried to recover my bus without success, and I cannot produce identification that I am ‘Kamoludin.’
Yours faithfully,
S M Kamaluddin
Editor’s note
We are sending a copy of this letter to the acting Supreme Court Registrar, Mr Rashid Mohamed, for any comment he might wish to make.
