Progresso Heights Versus Sedi Elrington: Will the Cautions be Lifted?

Wilfred "Sedi" Elrington

Progresso Heights Limited, a master development plan situated along Cocos Lagoon in Progresso, Corozal District, remains in the headlines for several lawsuits that have surrounded the real estate company.  Notwithstanding matters that have gone before the Court of Appeal and the Caribbean Court of Justice, respectively, a longstanding claim continues to languish at the Supreme Court.   A case against Foreign Minister Wilfred ‘Sedi’ Elrington, who is a minority shareholder in the venture, is presently before Justice Courtney Abel and it is the hope of the claimant that the matter will be dispensed with as early as next Wednesday.  That’s because a team of lawyers, including Senior Counsel Eamon Courtenay and Pricilla Banner, has been trying repeatedly to have cautions lifted from several properties held by the company.  According to Courtenay, who represents Progresso Heights Limited, the cautions are the result of a twenty percent stake that Elrington has in the company and that the sale of those lands entitles him to twenty percent of the profits.

Eamon Courtenay

Eamon Courtenay, Attorney for Progresso Heights Ltd.

“We have a claim against Wilfred Elrington because in 2010, Wilfred Elrington put cautions on the subdivision so that Progresso Heights could not complete the sale of its properties.  Those cautions remain after eight years.  We had more than once applied to the Registrar of Lands to remove them and due to the political interference of Wilfred Elrington; the registrar has not done so.  So we have also sued the registrar, saying that the registrar ought properly to have removed them on our application.  She has failed to do so.  The matter came up for trial today, but yesterday, lo and behold, out of the blue, we get a letter from Mr. Elrington saying that he is sick for five days.  So the judge considered putting the matter to Wednesday and when they called Mr. Elrington, he of course says, then he’s away from the country for three weeks beginning this week.  So the matter has now been adjourned until next week Wednesday for the court to deal with any application that the parties would make to it.”

Isani Cayetano

“Is there a reason why these cautions were placed on these specific properties?”

Eamon Courtenay

“According to Mr. Elrington, he wrote on the cautions that they are there because he is a twenty percent shareholder and therefore he is entitled to twenty percent of the profit from the sale of the land.  Now when you look at the Registered Land Act, it doesn’t take one very long to realize that not only is that statement bad in law, it does not provide a legal basis for a caution.  So what you have is a company that has been stopped from selling land because Mr. Elrington has these cautions.  He has used his influence to maintain them there and the business has actually come to a halt.”