Give the public the true picture and avoid questioning the decision taken by Director of Public Prosecution Charles Leacock to discontinue the burglary case against veteran journalist Timothy Slinger and mini-bus conductor Don Harper.
Managing Director of Pizza Man Doc and owner of DeDiva Hype Bar on Baxters Road, The City Gray Brome threw out this challenge to tenant Jacqueline Proverbs.
Proverbs told Barbados TODAY yesterday that she was still in shock after turning up to court last Friday, only to hear that the office of the DPP had withdrawn the case in which she was the complainant. The resident of Oldbury Gardens, Gemswick, St Philip complained that up to now she had not been told why the case was thrown out.
Reacting to the story today Brome told Barbados TODAY that Proverbs owed him several thousands of dollars in rent arrears and that after sending her several eviction notices without any success, he retained the services of a bailiff to recover the arrears.
Brome added that he was forced to meet electricity costs for the property, and said he was disgusted at his tenant’s “failure to accept her responsibilities and the financial strain” it has placed on his resources.
“I was forced to rush and pay the outstanding bills by last Friday because if I did not I would have to rewire the property because it has been closed for the past six months. Having rewired the property I would have to wait until officers of the Electrical Engineering Department carry out an inspection before the electricity supply is restored. I have had to shell out in excess of $2,500 to cover expenses that she should have undertaken,” Broome alleged.
When contacted at his St Peter home this afternoon, the bailiff who was retained by Brome confirmed that over the past year he had been working to recover monies owed by Proverbs.
“I have been working on this case for about a year. Every time I made an arrangement with her to pay some of the arrears she agreed but never paid the full amount. The last time I spoke to her she promised to pay $1 000, but she only mustered $50. There were other occasions she promised to pay but never paid,” said the bailiff, who spoke to Barbados TODAY on condition of anonymity because of his status as a public servant.
The bailiff said that Proverbs was delinquent in the payment of rent, pointing out that between July 2014 and February 2015, she had only covered three months’ rent.
According to the bailiff, Proverbs claimed that the property was broken into in December 2014 and the business has never recovered from the losses.
When contacted today Proverbs denied owing Bromes substantial sums money. Barbados TODAY obtained a copy of a letter dated December 20, 2014 and signed by Proverbs and the bailiff, in which the Lot #5, Oldbury Gardens, St Philip resident accepted that she and her business partner Ian Farley of Lower Carlton, St James would pay $2,400 for outstanding rent due for the months of October, November and December 2014.
Proverbs also committed to pay “all outstanding monies” on her electricity bill, totaling over $1,500 for the property at Baxters Road, the City.
Barbados TODAY has also obtained a copy of a letter from Broome to Farley dated November 24, 2014, in which he advised Farley that the arrangement to rent the space would expire on December 28, 2014 and suggested that a written application for the renewal of the contract be forwarded to Brome two weeks prior to the expiry of the current contract.
“For some time I had asked Proverbs to vacate the property because I was experiencing major challenges in collecting the rent due. In addition, she failed to pay the Barbados Light & Power Co Ltd bills,” Brome told Barbados TODAY. “In the end I found myself stuck with the utility bill.”
nevilleclarke@barbadostoday.bb