POINTE BLANCHE–Zebec Development has filed a request with the Court in St. Maarten to allow a preliminary witness examination and appoint an expert. The developer believes St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies and others misled Zebec to enter into a settlement over the development of the Dutch Village project at the port in September 2015. The hearing of the request is in the Court’s agenda for Monday, September 24.
Zebec has, strictly speaking, not filed a lawsuit against the port, said attorney Jeroen Veen of Lexwell law office.
“Zebec has filed a request with the Court in St. Maarten to allow a preliminary witness examination and appoint an expert. If the Court allows this, it depends on the outcome of the witness examinations whether Zebec will start another procedure against the port, against Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, but also against others,” Veen explained. Zebec will also make a request to the Federal Court in Miami to hear witnesses living in Florida, he said.
Veen said this “new development” has nothing to do with the provisions in the settlement or a violation thereof. “On the basis of new information and current developments in the port, Zebec believes that the port, and others, have misled Zebec to enter into a settlement,” Veen stated, without providing more details.
Besides Veen, Zebec is assisted in this case by Dutch lawyer Jacob Cornegoor, who has also worked in Curaçao in the past, and by Miami-based lawyer Jeffrey Sloman.
Almost three years ago, the Harbour and Zebec Development reached what parties called at the time an “amicable solution” over the development of the Dutch Village project. Parties did not disclose the amount of the settlement reached, as the settlement agreement was governed by non-disclosure clauses.
In August 2014, Zebec filed a legal claim for more than US $100 million against St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies and its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Mingo for alleged breach of contract concerning the development of the Harbour Village project in the cruise terminal.
The claim filed by Zebec stemmed from the Harbour’s “repeated failure” to meet its contractual obligations as defined under various agreements. Zebec had said it was to fully fund and develop the project, while the Harbour Group “simply would generate many years of income from a revenue-sharing agreement.”
Zebec had accused Mingo of setting up “roadblocks” despite agreements and commitments in place for the project. The company had said it was left with no alternative to the commencing of legal action.
The Harbour Village was intended to be a collaborative effort to develop the 13,000-square-metre parcel of land adjacent to the cruise piers into “an unrivalled mix of shopping and entertainment” that would include, among other things, restaurants, bars and a lazy-pool. Zebec said it had a long-lease on the land. The Harbour previously had promoted the project through brochures and the local newspapers.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/79790-zebec-believes-it-has-been-misled-to-enter-into-settlement-with-port
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