Court to rule on NTCS interim payment on Wednesday

Barbara Gayle, Justice Coordinator

The members of the National Transport Co-operative Society (NTCS) will know on Wednesday if the Government will be ordered to make an interim payment in a long drawn out suit.

The attorneys for the NTCS want the government to pay 20 percent of the $2-billion award.

The Court of Appeal today reserved its ruling after hearing legal arguments from the lawyers representing the parties.

The matter was heard two days after the death of the head of the NTCS, Ezroy Millwood.

In an affidavit Millwood had said NTCS members were destitute and needed an interim payment.

But Government lawyers challenged the application for an interim payment.

Richard Mahfood QC who is representing the government argued that the NTCS members suffered no loss.

He further contended that there was no guarantee that the government could recover the money from the bus owners.

The government has filed an application asking for a stay of the interim payment pending the outcome of its appeal.

Lord Anthony Gifford, and Attorney-at-law Patrick Bailey have opposed the application.

The Government and the NTCS have been in the courts for more than a decade, following a decision to end the sub-franchise agreement between the bus company and the state-owned Jamaica Urban Transit Company.

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