Construction company promises Dover residents relief

by Randy Bennett

Residents of Dover should now have fewer sleepless nights.

That’s because a decision reached in the High Court today has limited the hours JADA Builders Inc. can work on the nearby Sandals and Ocean Two sites.

Attorney for the residents, Lalu Hanuman told Barbados TODAY the construction company on Wednesday gave an undertaking to the court, presided over by Justice Shona Griffith, that it would only work between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday to Saturday and work will not be done on Sundays or bank holidays.

He said it was a victory for residents in the Christ Church community who had been forced to live in unacceptable conditions due to the construction work being carried out by JADA since December 2019.

“I had applied for an injunction for injunctive relief since the end of September and it was set down for hearing today. At the hearing today, the defendant, JADA Builders Inc., conceded that what they were doing was a nuisance and they undertook to the court that they will not work outside of reasonable working hours, because they’ve been working until midnight quite often,” Hanuman revealed.

“The undertaking applies to both sites and if they breach that undertaking then they are in contempt of court and the directors of JADA can be imprisoned for being in contempt of court.”

Hanuman said as recently as Saturday, work at the Sandals site continued until 9 p.m. and work was also done Sunday.

Throughout JADA’s work, he said, residents had to contend with the sounds of hammering and noisy vehicles late into the night, as well as issues related to dust from the two construction sites.

“I’m very elated and pleased that residents of Dover will not be subjected to this ridiculous and contemptuous work that we’ve been subjected to since December last year. Most certainly, it is a victory for residents of Dover,” the attorney said.

“It’s unfortunate that we had to go down this route. I’ve tried on several occasions to negotiate a settlement, even allowing them to work on a Sunday, providing that everything stops at 6 p.m. and during the week, but arrogantly they just ignored the undertakings that they had given in the past and they continued on the various days until midnight or ridiculous hours.”

Three weeks ago, management of JADA apologised to the Dover residents. At the time, the company promised that stage of construction would have been completed in a few weeks.

In a previous interview with Barbados TODAY, project manager at JADA, Rene Dulieu admitted that the fact the company was working in a residential area meant the concerns of residents came first.

He had promised to meet with Hanuman and residents in an attempt to find an amicable solution.

(randybennett@barbadostoday.bb)