The following article was first published in the Trinidad And Tobago Express Newspaper on Thursday 28th November, 2019.
You can read the entire article below.
A LEGAL dispute between a Carenage man and soca artiste Neil ‘Iwer’ George came to an end at the Port of Spain High Court yesterday evening, with George being ordered to pay the man in excess of $100,000.
That sum represented money that the man, Calvin La Vende, said George was owing him for works he carried out on the artiste’s party boat, Coral Vision, rental of his pirogue to George, sale of a boat engine for which he was only given a $2,000 down payment, as well as material he had to purchase to repair the pirogue after it was damaged while in George’s possession.
Justice James Aboud made the order at the Hall of Justice following a one-day trial, eight years after La Vende said he entered into verbal contracts with George.
The judge ordered the artiste to pay $5,000 representing the balance owed on the engine, $20,000 for the cleaning of four tanks that were attached to the party boat, $54,000 for the rental of the pirogue over a six-month period at a rate of $300 per day, and an additional $23,000 for repairs to the damaged pirogue.
La Vende was represented by attorney Matthew Gayle, while George was represented by Peter Taylor.
In his evidence, La Vende, who was employed as a janitor on the Coral Vision, said he was approached by George and asked if he was able to acquire an engine to attach to a life raft. La Vende said he informed George he was able to and the two came to a verbal agreement that George would pay him $7,000 in exchange for the engine.
After attaching the engine to the raft and having it delivered to the Coral Vision where it was docked in Sea Lots, La Vende said he never received any additional payment apart from the initial $2,000.
La Vende testified that he also rented his pirogue to George to facilitate the transportation of food, drinks and employees to the Coral Vision whenever it was out at sea but for this service as well, he never received payment.
Additionally, La Vende said based on George’s request, he proceeded to clean four tanks that contained fuel attached to the bottom of the vessel.
He admitted that in this instance, the two did not discuss a price for the cleaning of the tanks, since George requested that it be done with haste. It was only after the work was completed and La Vende forwarded his invoice to the artiste that he refused to pay.
And when he retrieved the pirogue, La Vende stated it was badly damaged to the tune of thousands of dollars.
In his defence, however, George said when the engine was delivered, the captain of the vessel found that it was not functional and, therefore, that La Vende take back possession of it without further payment.
George said he then purchased another engine from another man to attach to the life raft.
He denied renting the pirogue, pointing out that he used the life raft to transport ice and other small items whenever it became necessary.
It was no one else’s fault the pirogue was damaged than La Vende, he said, given that the man would usually leave it attached to the Coral Vision for days, causing it to slam against the metal vessel.
‘I can’t be held accountable for something I did not rent,’ he stated.
However, during George’s testimony, he made a number of corrections to statements he had previously made while giving evidence.
In another instance, there were inconsistencies in his evidence and that of the captain of the vessel whom he had called as a witness.
George said he has since sold the Coral Vision and that it was used in some other Caribbean Island. In his testimony, however, the captain, Jimmy Ferguson, said he was still employed by George as captain and if anyone said the vessel had been sold, they were not telling the truth.
