In a landmark property rights decision, High Court Justice Margaret Mohammed has ruled in favor of Arima landowner Trevor Kerry in his protracted legal battle against the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC) regarding mineral extraction rights on disputed lands within the San Carlos Estate.
The court determined that Kerry holds legitimate entitlement to conduct quarrying operations for stone, sand, gravel, clay, earth, and similar minerals across two designated lots (D and G) at the estate. This judicial clarification concludes years of contentious negotiations and correspondence between the parties concerning electrical infrastructure installation and maintenance on the properties.
Legal representatives Nirad Samnadda-Ramrekersingh and Richard Freeman successfully argued that Kerry’s ownership, established through a chain of deeds originating in 1959, conferred comprehensive mineral extraction privileges. They demonstrated that T&TEC had erroneously interpreted the definition of ‘mines and minerals’ within the historical documentation, incorrectly including materials specifically excluded from the original contractual language.
T&TEC’s defense team, led by Keith Scotland, SC, and Asha Watkins-Monsterin, maintained that Kerry’s claim lacked legal foundation and attempted to revisit matters settled in previous 2020 litigation involving adjacent San Carlos parcels. However, Justice Mohammed’s meticulous examination of historical conveyances and prior judicial determinations revealed critical distinctions.
The court established that a pivotal 1959 deed between Stollmeyer Ltd and Frank Kerry granted only an undivided half-share of mineral rights specifically limited to petroleum, bituminous, and hydrocarbon substances. Crucially, common quarry materials including stone, sand, clay, and gravel were expressly excluded from this conveyance and remained within the claimant’s uncontested ownership rights.
Furthermore, the judgment clarified that through subsequent acquisitions, Kerry obtained Stollmeyer Ltd’s retained mineral half-share plus the explicit right to ‘dig and get’ mineral materials from the lands. This entitlement extends beyond his owned parcels to other estate areas, contingent upon appropriate compensation to other beneficiaries for extraction activities conducted on their respective parcels, as stipulated in the original 1959 agreement.