The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Village Road businessman says he is “in a pickle” despite commerce returning with a “bang” as he seeks compensation for lost trade and damage to his property that he alleges was caused by ongoing roadworks.

Brent Fox, Montague Motors’ principal, told Tribune Business he is unsure whether to hold-off on paying this year’s Business Licence fee amid hopes the Government will deliver on its promise of compensation for the area’s businesses because his company would effectively be shut down without doing so.

Pointing out that Customs will refuse to clear his vehicle imports without a valid Business Licence, he nevertheless acknowledged that business had “tripled” since the beginning of January when Village Road was paved and access re-opened to consumers at its northern end.

However, Mr Fox told this newspaper that revived trade will not make up for 2022 when monthly sales were off by between 30-70 percent compared to normal as customers avoided the area due to the inconvenience created by the ongoing construction.

And he is now locked in a fight over damage to his boundary wall that he alleges was caused by the roadworks. He produced photos showing how his chain-link fence and wooden post have “caved in”, which allegedly occurred on a night when Village Road was closed to non-construction traffic, and is seeking repairs and/or further compensation from the Ministry of Works and its contractor.

However, Emile Knowles, principal of Knowles Construction, the project’s main contractor, told Tribune Business there was no evidence that his vehicles or anyone connected to the project had damaged Mr Fox’s boundary wall. He added that contractors were typically blamed for such incidents, pointing to the Ministry of Works request that he pay for damage to a traffic light at the Village Road/Wulff Road junction, only for video evidence to show it was not his firm’s fault.

Disclosing that construction crews had laid “20 miles of conduits and pipes on one mile of road” during the project, Mr Knowles said he had hoped to complete all paving this weekend past, leaving only the likes of signage and road striping outstanding

Meanwhile, Michael Fields, president of Four Walls Squash and Social Club, who has been among the leading Village Road business figures calling on the Government to provide an economic relief and stimulus package, yesterday said they will “continue to apply the pressure” although their meetings with the Davis administration have signalled it “definitely wants to do something” to assist.

Mr Fox, meanwhile, said he had been “complaining for six months about the damage done to my wall” and supplying the Ministry of Works with photographic evidence to prove his case. “It just seems like when it comes to me they ain’t checking,” he told Tribune Business. “I’ve lost a lot of money because of the construction, and fighting this is at a different level.

“The Ministry of Works promised they would repair my wall. I told them I wanted to restart the business. I wanted them to give my confirmation that they would do it by the end of the month. But I spoke to Emile Knowles and he said they didn’t do it. He’s telling me: How do I know it’s their equipment that did that?

“The road was closed to vehicular traffic that night. There was a big dump truck parked up against my wall. It could only have been their equipment, but he says it would not have hit my post or fence that high. They’re getting ready to finish up paving and my wall has caved in on one side and the fence is all pushed down to where people can jump over it. As far as the damage to my wall, I feel that if I don’t bring it to light they’re just going to ignore me like with the sewer pipe.”

Tribune Business previously reported Mr Fox’s complaint that the new Water & Sewerage Corporation sewer line was installed at a depth that was too low to properly connect with his own. Mr Knowles, though, denied to this newspaper that the roadworks or his construction equipment were responsible for the damage to Montague Motors’ fence.

“I personally don’t feel we damaged Mr Fox’s fence,” he said. “I believe his fence was damaged by a possible intruder. We had no reason to have a vehicle at that elevation or in close proximity to his fence. He initially said it was one type of vehicle, and then said it was a grader. The grader paves along his fence, but there was nothing sticking out to catch his fence.

“We’ve taken responsibility to fix every damage made, and those that we’ve done that have not been fixed, we will fix. We’re not in business to fix private property. A few weeks ago the Ministry of Works accused us of damaging traffic lights at the Wulff Road intersection with our lay down yard.

“Fortunately, the owner of the Esso on the Run opposite played the tape back and that showed the lights were damaged by a tyre that flew off a passing car and broke the light. The ministry had wanted to charge me for the damage and fixing the light.”

Mr Fox said he was now looking at repairing the fence himself “on top of all the money being lost and sales being reduced” due to the months last year when customers simply could not access Montague Motors due to the roadworks. “I can show where sales dropped off between 30 percent to 70 percent depending on the month,” he told Tribune Business.

“Since the paving, business has gone up. It’s tripled since the beginning of January. January was traditionally one of our slowest months and has turned into one of our busiest months. That goes against 20 years of business. They finished paving in the first week of January, and bang, we’re back in business, but nothing will pay for last year. If I didn’t own the property I’d be out of business.

“They’re [the Government] talking about compensation but are dragging their feet on it. I found out they had a meeting with some of the people on Village Road but I wasn’t invited. I went down to the Ministry of Finance and said: ‘I’ve lost a ton of money and here are the figures’. They said we’re addressing that and going to do this. They said the minister has decided to do some compensation and do a launch on Village Road for all businesses.”

Suggesting that he was running out of time for the Government to provide clarity, Mr Fox said: “My Business Licence is due. My lawyer said to hold back on it but I can’t import cars if I don’t have it because Customs require a Business Licence. I’m getting no feedback at all from the Ministry of Finance. They say they’re going to compensate me and will let me know.

“Do I pay the Business Licence for last year, VAT? What do I do? I’m in a pickle.” Mr Fields yesterday told this newspaper that while “nothing concrete” had been presented by the Government, there were “ongoing discussions” and a further meeting had been held with Simon Wilson, the Ministry of Finance’s financial secretary, and his team following the original encounter with Michael Halkitis, minister of economic affairs.

“They’re certainly going to do something,” Mr Fields said of the Government. “We’ll continue to apply the pressure. They definitely want to do something, but we don’t know what it is and when.”