(SOURCE: Trinidad Express) – Hours after receiving the green light from the High Court to pursue a claim for judicial review against the Ministry of National Security, a Trinidad and Tobago national who had been stranded in Barbados for the past three months was allowed to return home.
The Express understands that on Monday evening, Marc Bodden, a mariner, of Golconda, San Fernando, was allowed to re-enter the country along with several other citizens who were also in Barbados, and is currently in quarantine at the Debe South Campus.
Earlier in the day, Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh granted permission to Bodden to pursue the claim after he filed an application last Friday.
That application was filed after National Security Minister Stuart Young declined his request to re-enter the country on three separate occasions, even though a number of other citizens were being allowed to return home. The minister had also failed to respond to a pre-action protocol letter issued by his attorneys Anand Ramlogan, SC, and Che Dindial last Monday.
In addition to granting leave, Justice Boodoosingh also deemed the matter fit for urgent hearing.
But even though the main objective of the claim has been achieved, it has not been withdrawn. Bodden is still seeking a declaration from the court that he was a victim of unfair treatment. He is also seeking compensation from the State for discrimination and inequality of treatment.
One of his main contention to establish he was unfairly treated is that while he tested negative for the Covid-19 virus in Barbados, had a certificate to show this, remained in the mandatory 14-day quarantine period and later in self-isolation, his requests were still denied.
In addition to that, Bodden claimed he requested that he be allowed to return home together with 33 other Trinidad and Tobago nationals who were also stranded in Barbados and granted permission to return home on April 21.
But in spite of his negative results and extra seating space on the flight to this country, his plea was to no avail.
His attorneys have been given 14 days within which to file the claim, after which the judge will set a date for a hearing of the lawsuit.
Bodden first left this country for Brazil on March 14, to attend a training programme in Advanced Dynamic Positioning Certification at Vision Marine Nautical Training Centre between the period March 16 to 19.
On March 15, he became informed that a decision had been taken to close this country’s borders from March 22. He attempted to get his return flight brought up from March 23, when it was due, to March 21. However, he was unsuccessful.
He then visited the Trinidad and Tobago Embassy in Brazil and was advised to take a flight to England and then to Barbados where he will ten be allowed to board a flight back to this country.
Bodden, the latter stated, complied with the advice and arrived in Barbados on March 27. Upon his arrival there, he was placed in mandatory quarantine for 14 days and tested for the Covid-19 virus. That test came back negative followed by him self-isolating.
From then to when the pre-action protocol letter was issued, his attorneys claimed his applications for exemption to return home had been denied even though he submitted all of the relevant information sought by the National National Security Ministry.
