The Public Service Union (PSU) has been in a dilemma regarding its current location for some time now. It sits atop a location which, in November 2018, was sold by the Belmopan City Council to Simplex Design Company Limited. It was a purchase which the PSU has regarded as legal, but they say they will not be moving. This is contrary to a statement made on national television by PSU’s president, who stated that they would vacate the premises. In that regard, the company’s attorney, Estevan Perrera, had addressed a letter to the PSU reminding them of their promise to vacate the property but now, President Gerald Henry, has changed the PSU’s position.
Henry says that while the PSU has come to acknowledge the sale of the property as legal, they will not be moving out just yet. He says that the PSU has never conceded to moving out, contrary to what has been propagated in the media and publicly. Henry says that their decision not to move yet is not a standoff, but that they are seeking to cash in on equitable interests that it has on the property.
The PSU has until the end of October to vacate but Henry says that no vacation will take place until the matter is settled. A letter from Simplex Design Company Limited, dated September 26, has said that should the PSU fail to vacate the property on or before October 31, 2019, “Our client has instructed us to file a claim against the Public Service Union, wherein we will seek an eviction order from the court in addition to our legal cost and rent.” President Henry says that they are not concerned. “If we vacate then we are de facto saying that we are relieving or relinquishing that equitable interest and certainly we are not doing that and we have no interest in doing that right now. The mandate from the members was that we pursue that equitable interest that we have in the property,” he said.
