By Melissa Maynard
Copyright trinidadexpress
Legal action is brewing against the Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (UDeCOTT) over what an attorney has des-cribed as “constructive eviction” of vendors at the Breakfast Shed (Femmes du Chalet) eatery on the waterfront in Port of Spain.
In a pre-action protocol letter dated September 29, attorney Kenneth Mun-roe Brown alleged that UDe-COTT’s board was being mis-led by its chief executive officer over the departure of vendors.
Brown is acting on behalf of the co-owners and former presumed tenants of the popular food court located next to the Hyatt Regency (Trini-dad) hotel, on the Port of Spain Waterfront.
The Express reported on Monday that vendors were packing up and leaving the facility.
According to UDeCOTT, rent to the tune of $1.8 milli-on is owed over several years.
Brown urged the board to engage in discussions towards a fair resolution.
The letter warned, “It is of course axiomatic that should you fail to engage in meaningful discussions, ideally within 14 days of this receipt of this missive, legal proceedings would be instituted against you without further notice or delay.
“Take notice as well that legal proceedings will also be instituted against your CEO personally for gross negligence, misfeasance in public office, and oppressive conduct. Our Chambers trust you will treat this matter with the seriousness it deserves.”
The letter stated that the chambers found it “repugnant in the extreme” that Tamica Charles, the chief executive officer, “would so blatantly choose to mislead both your board and the national community by feeding misinformation to the chairman and the press by denying having issued eviction notices”.
The CEO was also accused of “being guilty of hav—ing bullied, intimidated and hounded our clients out of their business operation to the extent that under the pressure of duress and harass-ment their businesses have folded”.
The attorney’s letter refer-enced an earlier communi-cation, stating, “In fact this point was clearly articula-ted in our letter dated 9th September 2025, where construc-tive proposals were advanced aimed at resol-ving this matter amicably.
“However, rather than reply, your CEO chose the path of conflict and confusion which your board would agree is conduct wholly unbecoming of a public official entrusted with the management of State assets.”
The correspondence also cited previous grievances and alleged broken promises.
“You may not be aware, but when our clients were displaced in 2005, very solemn promises were made by the then Prime Minister Patrick Manning (deceased) and relied upon to their detriment that the cooks would be accommodated with a permanent home of their own.”
It continued, “This was on the heels of the close of negotiations with the final offer from UDeCOTT being in the sum of $500,000 per cook. To date, rather sadly, only $100,000 was paid across the board, leaving a balance of $400,000 per cook still outstanding, so that with the then 15 affected cooks, the unpaid balance now stands at $6 million exclusive of interest and costs.”
‘Demand for payment’
Brown later yesterday provided a letter issued by UDe-COTT on September 15 to the Femmes Du Chalet Co-operative Society Ltd, addressed to Bernadette Smith.
The correspon-dence asked for $1,823,342.86 arrears in rent.
Speaking with the Express yesterday, Brown insisted that this letter, while framed as a demand for payment, could be viewed as an eviction notice.
“The law doesn’t say constructive eviction, but it is akin; if you do everything to create an environment where someone has no choice but to leave that environment, that environment is created; you can’t say you didn’t evict them,” he said.
“Life is all about perception; our (law firm) wrote to (UDeCOTT); they came back with a demand letter with a deadline to pay $1.8 milli-on…,” he told the Express in a telephone interview.
He explained that his chambers had written to UDeCOTT on September 9 inviting dialogue and propo-sing a middle ground, but instead of replying formally, the corporation issued the demand letter directly to the co-operative.
Brown further argued that UDeCOTT was aware the number of operating kitchenettes had dropped from 15 to about four after the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The truth of the matter is if you only have two or three kitchenettes operating, how are you going to make up this money?” he asked.
Brown is representing two vendors, but maintained that others who left still retain legal rights.
“Because there were 15 when the arrangement was made under the (Patrick) Manning administration, but the fact that they are no longer there doesn’t mean that they lose their entitlement…in terms of what was accepted,” he said.
The Express tried to contact Charles yesterday morning for comment but was told she was at an out-of-office engagement.
Reached for comment via WhatsApp, UdeCOTT chair-man Shankar Bidaisee responded, “No information. Preparing for court.”
What UDeCOTT’s
letter said
The Express obtained a copy of UDeCOTT’s Septem-ber 15 letter which referenced “Demand for unpaid monthly fee for the use and occupation of the Breakfast Shed situated at 1A Wrightson Road, Port of Spain”.
The letter stated that the co-operative owed $1,823,342.86 in arrears for the period August 2023 to August 2025.
It stated, “A monthly fee is payable by the Co-operative Society to UDeCOTT, in advance on the first (1st) day of each consecutive month of clear of all deductions for the occupation of 15,000 sq ft for the sum of ($18,362,31) plus value added tax (VAT) at the rate of 12.5% calculated to be $2,295.29 for a total monthly sum of $20,657.60 VAT inclusive.”
UDeCOTT claimed there had been a “continued disregard” for obligations to pay rent and warned that failure to settle the arrears within 30 days would result in “further legal action and eviction proceedings” as well as additional costs.
The correspondence, signed by Charles, urged the co-operative society to “avoid any unnecessary legal proceedings” and treat the matter with “the utmost urgency”.w
