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The board of the Chaguaramas Military Museum has been granted a High Court injunction allowing it to return to the museum's Western Main Road location after the Chaguaramas Development Authority's (CDA) eviction last week.
The injunction gives the board occupation of the premises until an application for interim relief – which will be heard on March 10 by Justice Joan Charles – is decided. The order by Justice Devindra Rampersad also prohibits the CDA from evicting the museum until the application is determined or a further order is made.
Newsday went to the museum on March 7, where its vice president Brian Mitchell said he hopes the hearing provides an opportunity for dialogue with the CDA.
“We know how the judicial system works, it’s not now for now.
"But what we are looking at is that we hope the CDA will sit and talk with us because this whole problem really stems from a lack of dialogue between the CDA and us, although they are just across the road and we are right here.
“Historically, this is a problem that started in 1991 when the Cabinet granted us permission to be here and CDA was instructed to prepare a lease for us with certain conditions.”
He said the lease was never prepared because elements of the draft lease, presented by the CDA, did not align with the Cabinet note.
He also said the CDA has misrepresented the nature of communication between it and the museum.
“CDA has been saying that we have been avoiding them and avoiding accepting leases from them.
"That is wrong. The record shows that we have been begging them over the years to organise the lease.
"The founder of the museum, Lt Commander Gaylord Kelshall, even went as far as writing to the prime minister, who was Basdeo Panday at the time, asking him to intervene.”
Ahead of the hearing, Mitchell said he is hopeful that there will be some resolution to the ongoing issue.
“Going forward I am very optimistic.
And I have to be optimistic because as a knight of the museum, I took an oath to protect the museum and to protect the assets of the museum so that future generations will be able to enjoy it like how those now are enjoying it.
“…So we are waiting and on Monday please God and then we will know exactly what our immediate next step is.
"It is in the hands of the lawyers, I'm not a lawyer so I can’t say if it will go left or it will go right. But I am happy that we are here.”
Mitchell thanked those who have supported the museum in its fight to retain the property, including National Transformation Alliance (NTA) political leader Gary Griffith.
“On Carnival Monday, he found time to come down here to stand with us. He’s a former military man and also a knight of the museum as a long-standing member."
Mitchell also thanked the public.
“To all of those who called us, sent WhatsApp messages, posted on their social media pages, met us on the road, passed and honked their horns, we are very thankful for that support.
“And we’d like them to know that we have a responsibility, not to the CDA, not to the government, but to the people of TT.”
On February 28, the CDA took possession of the compound, locking out the museum's board. The lockout came five months after the CDA sent the board an eviction notice in October 2024.
On March 3, the CDA wrote to the board, instructing it to remove all of the artefacts from the compound within seven days.
The post Military museum gets control of Chaguaramas compound with court order appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.