(Trinidad Guardian) The State has agreed to pay almost $75,000 in compensation to a woman who fell into a defective manhole in Princes Town.
Shenate Kim Lee, of Lothians Road, Princes Town, sued the Ministry of Works and Transport after the incident near her home on August 20, 2016.
When the case came up for hearing before Justice Jacqueline Wilson in the San Fernando High Court yesterday, attorneys from the Office of the Attorney General offered to settle the claim and pay compensation. Lee’s attorneys, Abdel and Shabaana Mohammed, accepted. In her lawsuit, which was withdrawn based on the settlement, Lee said she was walking toward a supermarket when her right foot went through the broken concrete manhole cover.
She lost her balance, twisted her knee and fell on her buttocks, suffering injuries to her back, knees, shin and tail bone.
She claimed that the ministry was negligent in failing to maintain the manhole and for failing to place signs warning members of the public that it was defective. In October, a High Court judge ruled against the ministry in an almost identical case.
In that claim, Surujdai Rampersad sued the Ministry and the Chaguanas Borough Corporation after she fell into a manhole on the Chaguanas Main Road near Cacandee Road on March 11, 2015.
The Ministry, not the Corporation, was held liable as the manhole fell within its purview.
Seepersad did not assess compensation, instead referring the issue to a High Court Master, who is still in the process of doing so.